II , q,78 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Green  Fund 


Division... .^Q . . .Sr.  ' 

[A  3 

, 1 M O 


Section. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/siamitsgovernmenOOmcdo 


The  present  King  of  Siam, 


S'T  A M : 


ITS 


GOVERNMENT,  MANNERS,  CUSTOMS,  &c. 

r 


BY 

Rey.  N.  A/McDONALD, 


For  ten  years  a Missionary  in  that  country. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

ALFRED  MARTIEN, 


1214  CHESTNUT  STREET. 
1871. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1871,  by 
ALFRED  MARTIEN, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


2To  tfje  iHcmtirj 

Of  the  Founder  of  Milnwood  Academy, 

REV.  J.  Y.  McGINNES, 

Who  had  the  cause  of  Foreign  Missions  very  much  at  heart; 

AND  TO  ALL  WHO  HAVE  BEEN 

PUPILS  OF  THAT  INSTITUTION, 

THIS  LITTLE  VOLUME 

Is  respectfully  dedicated,  by  one  of  the  earliest 
Students  of  the  Institution, 


The  Author. 


o n 1 1 n t ^ 


CHAPTER  I.  page. 

GEOGRAPHY 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  GOVERNMENT 33 

CHAPTER  III. 

RELIGION  53 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EDUCATION  AND  LITERATURE 86 

CHAPTER  V. 

MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS 93 

CHAPTER  VI. 

COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE 105 


6 


CONTENTS, 


CHAPTER  VII. 

-a* 

CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DYING  AND  DEAD 124 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

THEORY  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE 139 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS 157 

CHAPTER  X. 

MODE  OF  DIVIDING  TIME  168 


CHAPTER  XI. 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


173 


* PREFACE. 


In  giving  these  pages  to  the  public  the 
author  has  no  ambition  to  make  a book. 
Having  been  invited  by  the  Principal  of 
Milnwood  Academy,  at  Shade  Gap,  Pa.,  to 
deliver  in  that  Institution  a series  of  lec- 
tures, or  talks,  on  Siam,  its  government, 
manners,  customs,  &c.,  a few  friends  have 
requested  that  they  be  reduced  to  paper  and 
published,  which  is  his  only  apology  for 
giving  them  to  the  public  in  book  form. 
A few  additions  have  been  made,  and  the 
facts  are  narrated  as  seen  and  understood  by 
the  author.  In  a few  instances,  to  refresh 


8 


PREFACE. 


his  memory,  he  has  referred  to  articles  on 
Siam,  published  in  the  Bangkok  Calendar 
and  elsewhere.  The  work  is  intended 
chiefly  for  a class  of  readers  who  may  not 
have  access  to  the  more  pretending  works 
recently  published  on  that  country. 

N.  A.  M. 

Shade  Gap,  Pa.,  April,  1871. 


SIAM. 


CHAPTER  I. 

GEOGRAPHY,  Etc. 

/H'N  nry  “overland”  journey  from  Siam  to 
J J.J  the  United  States,  through  France  and 
j England,  many  persons  were  accustomed 
to  accost  me  saying,  "Pardon  me,  Sir,  but 
what  nationality  is  that  young  man  who  is 
with  you?”  referring  to  my  Siamese  boy. 
That  boy,  Sir,  is  a Siamese.  "A  Siamese! 
Well,  I must  confess  my  geography  is  a little 
shaky, — I scarcely  know  where  Siam  is, — but 
I remember  now  that  is  where  the  Siamese 
twins  came  from.”  Referring,  of  course,  to 
those  unfortunate  beings  who  by  some  “lusus 
naturae”  are  inseparably  connected  together, 
1 


10 


SIAM. 


and  have  been  obliged  to  spend  a long  life  in 
that  condition,  and  who  have  consequently 
become  almost  the  only  means  by  which  their 
native  country  is  known  to  a vast  majority 
of  Europeans.  When  I,  in  1860,  determined 
to  go  to  Siam,  I found  it  next  to  impossible 
to  gather  from  books  any  reliable  information 
concerning  it,  and  consequently  took  shipping 
at  New  York  almost  as  ignorant  of  the  country 
to  which  I was  going,  as  I was  of  the  moon. 
Fortunately  however,  some  of  our  party  were 
returning,  and  before  we  arrived  at  our  des- 
tination I was  pretty  well  prepared  for  what 
I was  to  encounter.  Geographies  are  nearly 
silent  in  regard  to  Siam,  from  the  simple 
fact  that  geographers  themselves  know  nothing 
about  it.  It  is  also  to  be  regretted  that,  until 
very  recently,  chiefly  all  the  books  concern- 
ing Oriental  countries  were  written  by  mere 
cursory  travellers,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
countries  through  which  they  passed,  or  at 
which  they  touched,  must  necessarily  have  been 
limited,  and  the  chief  object  of  many  of  them 


GEOGRAPHY.  ETC. 


11 


appears  to  liave  been  to  make  a readable  book, 
oftentimes  at  tbe  expense  of  truth. 

You  will  naturally  ask,  where  is  Siam?  At 
the  extreme  point  of  that  vast  continent  ex- 
tending from  the  snows  of  Siberia  to  the  Equa- 
tor, and  terminating  in  the  long  narrow  Malay 
peninsula,  is  the  little  island  of  Singapore,  sepa- 
rated from  the  mainland  by  a narrow  strait. 
The  island  is  about  twenty-five  miles  long,  and 
about  fourteen  miles  broad,  and  commands  the 
entrance  of  the  China  sea.  The  English,  who 
have  ever  had  an  eye  to  strategic  points, 
and  especially  in  the  East,  took  possession  of  it 
in  1819,  being  then  little  more  than  a Malay 
fishing  village,  and  a nest  for  pirates.  The 
present  town  of  Singapore,  well  laid  out  and 
neatly  built,  and  situated  on  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  island  commanding  the  an- 
chorage, contains  perhaps  one  hundred  thou- 
sand inhabitants,  whilst  the  principal  English 
merchants  live  in  palatial  residences  on  the 
hills  in  the  rear  of  the  town.  The  government 
of  the  island,  together  with  Malacca,  Penang, 


12 


SIAM. 


and  Province  Wellesley,  has  lately  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  Indian  Government  directly 
to  the  Crown.  It  is  a beautiful  little  island, 
with  a genial  climate,  and  I know  of  no  place 
in  the  East  where  I would  rather  live. 

Leaving  Singapore,  and  passing  through  the 
strait,  up  the  peninsula,  over  the  lower  part 
of  the  China'  sea,  and  up  the  gulf  of  Siam 
about  eight  hundred  miles,  you  come  to  the 
kingdom  of  Siam,  sandwitched  between  Cam- 
bodia on  the  east  and  Burmah  on  the  west, 
extending  from  about  latitude  4°  to  22°  north, 
and  from  longitude  about  98°  to  104°  east; 
consequently  there  is  neither  frost  or  snow, 
but  perpetual  summer  reigns.  The  leaves  fall 
and  are  replaced  by  new  ones,  whilst  those 
who  are  daily  witnesses  to  it  scarcely  notice 
the  change. 

The  climate  of  Siam  is  genial  and  healthy, 
but  the  constant  heat  is  trying  to  the  consti- 
tutions of  Europeans,  who  require  a change 
at  least  once  in  ten  years.  The  seasons  are 
two,  the  wet  and  the  dry.  From  November 


GEOGRAPHY.  ETC. 


13 


to  May  scarcely  a cloud  obscures  the  shy,  and 
no  rain  falls  except  perhaps  a shower  in  Jan- 
uary. The  Siamese  look  for  a shower  in  that 
month,  and  are  disappointed  if  it  does  not 
come.  They  think  it  necessary  for  certain 
kinds  of  fruit  which  is  just  then  forming, 
and  they  also  think  it  indicative  of  a good 
rice  season.  I have,  however,  in  ten  years, 
seen  January  pass  several  times  without  the 
expected  shower.  From  November  to  Feb- 
ruary the  weather  is  delightful,  being  the  cool 
season,  but  the  thermometer  is  seldom  lower 
than  64°.  March  and  April  are  the  hottest 
months,  but  the  thermometer  does  not  rise  as 
high  as  might  be  expected  in  such  a climate. 
I have  never  seen  it  ove^  98°,  but  on  account 
of  the  long  absence  of  rain,  the  ground  in  most 
places  becomes  dry  and  parched,  and  the  rays 
of  the  sun,  reflected  from  the  heated  earth, 
give  the  atmosphere  a kind  of  bake-oven  feel- 
ing, which  is  oftentimes  hard  to  endure.  From 
November  to  May  the  wind  blows  constantly 
from  the  northeast,  and  is  called  the  “north- 


14 


SIAM. 


east  monsoon.”  From  May  till  November 
again,  is  the  wet  season,  the  wind  blowing 
constantly  from  the  southwest,  and  is  called 
the  “southwest  monsoon,”  the  rain  falling  in 
copious  showers  almost  every  day.  The  show- 
ers come  in  a kind  of  rotation.  If  there  is 
one  to-day  at  a certain  hour,  there  will  be 
one  to-morrow  an  hour  later.  The  showers 
are  copious  indeed,  and  sometimes  one  would 
think  the  “windows  of  heaven  were  opened.” 
The  lightning  is  vivid,  and  the  thunder  often- 
times terrific. 

"Whither  the  name  Siam  came,  or  whence 
it  is  derived,  it  is  now  impossible  to  tell. 
The  Siamese  themselves  know,  nothing  of  it, 
only  as  it  is  applied  .to  their  country  by  Euro- 
peans. The  name  they  apply  to  their  coun- 
try is  “Muang  Thai,”  the  free  country,  in 
distinction  from  those  countries  which  are 
tributary.  The  name  Siam,  however,  is  now 
coming  into  common  use,  and  is  sometimes 
inserted  in  public  documents. 

The  geology  of  Siam  is  simple,  the  lower 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


15 


portion  near  the  gulf  being  an  alluvial  deposit, 
the  result  of  the  annual  overflowing  of  the 
rivers,  which,  takes  place  at  the  close  of  every 
rainy  season.  The  water  from  the  copious 
rains  rushes  down  from  the  mountains  up  the 
country,  and  overflows  the  lowlands,  enrich- 
ing them  and  causing  them  to  produce  abun- 
dant crops  of  rice.  The  mountains  are  vol- 
canic, and  some  of  them  have  the  appearance 
of  having  been  thrown  from  a distance  and 
set  down  in  their  present  positions. 

Many  of  them  are  barren  of  almost  every- 
thing green,  presenting  to  the  eye  but  little 
that  is  attractive,  but  others,  especially  in 
the  North  Laos  country,  present  scenery  in- 
describably grand.  In  many  places,  especially 
along  the  seacoast,  the  old  granite,  the  founda- 
tion of  all  things,  geologically  speaking,  comes 
to  the  surface,  and  even  projects  out  in  bold 
bluffs  and  headlands.  The  rocks  on  many  of 
the  mountains  present  the  appearance  of  having 
at  one  time  been  lashed  by  the  waves  of  the 
sea,  and  there  is  abundant  evidence  that  much 


16 


SIAM. 


of  the  lower  country  has  been  redeemed  from 
the  sea  at  no  very  remote  period. 

The  country  is  drained  by  three  streams 
of  considerable  size,  which  empty  into  the 
gulf.  The  principal  one  is  put  down  on  our 
maps  as  the  Menam,  but  called  by  the  Siamese 
Menam  Chow  Phya,  Menam  being  the  generic 
name  for  river,  meaning  mother  of  water, 
and  Chow  Phya  being  the  specific  name  for 
that  particular  river.  Were  it  not  for  a sand- 
bar at  its  mouth,  it  would  be  navigable  for 
the  largest  class  of  vessels  to  Bangkok,  but 
on  that  account  the  largest  vessels  are  obliged 
to  anchor  in  the  roadstead  outside.  The  Bam- 
pakong  on  the  east,  and  Tacheen  on  the  west, 
are  also  streams  of  some  importance.  Besides 
these,  there  are  also  a number  of  smaller 
streams. 

Bangkok,  the  capital  of  the  kingdom,  is 
situated  on  both  sides  of  the  Menam  Chow 
Phya,  about  twenty-five  miles  from  its  mouth. 
It  contains  about  four  hundred  thousand  in- 
habitants, and  has  been  called  the  Venice  of 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


17 


the  East,  from  the  fact  that  much  of  the  city  is 
floating  on  the  river  in  the  form  of  floating 
houses.  These  floating  houses  are  a kind  of 
nondescript  affair,  and  it  is  impossible  to  give 
one  who  has  never  seen  them  any  idea  of 
them.  The  following  description,  by  the  oldest 
missionary  in  Siam,  and  published  in  the 
Bangkok  Calendar  of  1866,  though  quite  too 
elaborate  for  easy  reading,  is  as  good  as  any- 
thing that  can  be  given,  and  I shall  insert 
it  “in  toto.” 

“Our  friends  in  the  western  world  have 
heard  a good  deal  about  the  floating  houses 
of  Bangkok,  but  they  universally  speak  of 
being  unable  to  understand,  after  all  that  has 
been  written,  what  kind  of  things  they  are. 
If  the  descriptions  that  have  been  given  of 
them  could  have  always  been  accompanied 
by  good  photographic  pictures  of  the  same, 
our  friends  would  have  had  much  less  dif- 
culty  in  understanding  them.  But  such  pic- 
tures are  too  expensive  to  procure  for  illus- 
trating ‘The  Bangkok  Calendar,’  which  never 


18 


SIAM. 


pays  for  its  cost,  and  hence  we  must  do  the 
next  best  thing,  and  that  is  to  descend  into 
quite  minute  detail,  if  we  would  make  our 
friends  who  have  never  visited  Bangkok  under- 
stand such  unique  structures  as  the  floating 
houses  of  the  city.  And  as  these  houses  form 
a large  part  of  the  dwellings  and  mercantile 
shops  of  this  great  metropolis,  being  the  most 
conspicuous  of  all  buildings  (the  temples  only 
excepted)  as  you  pass  up  and  down  the  Menam 
Chow  Phya,  the  ‘ Broadway’  of  Bangkok,  they 
seem  to  demand  a minute  description  in  ‘The 
Calendar.’  These  floating  houses  are  moored 
on  both  sides  of  the  river  for  a distance  of 
nearly  three  miles.  Their  size,  on  an  average, 
is  about  forty  by  thirty  feet  on  the  base;  in 
height,  eight  feet  to  the  eves,  and  fifteen  feet 
to  the  ridge  of  the  roof.  As  this  base  could 
not  be  covered  by  a roof  of  only  two  sides, 
and  make  it  sufficiently  steep  to  shed  rain 
well,  without  being  too  high  for  safety  on  the 
river  in  time  of  a squall,  the  natives  divide 
the  area  to  be  covered  into  two  nearly  equal 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


19 


parts,  and  put  a two-sided  roof  over  each 
division,  thatched  with  the  attap  pulm  leaf, 
(cocos  nipa.)  The  two  eves  that  thus  meet  in 
the  middle  of  the  house  have  an  eve-trough 
common  to  both  of  them,  which  is  always  seen 
in  the  house  about  eight  feet  from  the  floor, 
passing  uniformly  in  the  direction  of  the  river. 
Hence  nearly  all  these  floating  houses  appear 
to  be  double,  standing  sidewise  to  the  river, 
the  ridge  of  the  front  being  a little  lower  than 
the  one  behind  it.  There  is  always  a narrow 
verandah  four  or  five  feet  wide  attached  to 
the  front  division,  which  is  covered  with  an 
extra  roof  of  attap  leaves,  extending  from  under 
the  main  point  roof,  with  a more  gentle  slope 
than  the  front  roof,  and  then,  in  front  of 
these,  there  is  usually  a small  bamboo  float 
from  three  to  five  feet  wide.  This  is  some- 
times extended  the  whole  length  of  the  house, 
and  sometimes  only  from  three  to  ten  feet. 
The  eve  of  the  verandah  is  not  more  than 
six  feet  above  the  floor.  From  this  there  is 
often  suspended  a bamboo  mat,  or  some  other 


20 


SIAM. 


material  more  tasty,  for  a screen  from  the  glare 
of  the  river.  The  ends  of  the  two  double  roofs 
are  all  furnished  precisely  alike  with  a peculiar 
kind  of  moulding  made  of  a thin  plank  taste- 
fully curved  at  the  bottom,  like  the  written 
capital  A,  and  put  up  edgewis? at  the  extreme 
end,  to  constitute  a neat  finish  for  the  thatch- 
ing. The  triangular  area  made  by  each  double 
roof  at  the  ends  is  generally  closed  with  attap 
thatching;  sometimes  with  bamboo  matting, 
sometimes  with  wooden  pannelled  work,  some- 
times with  a regular  clap-boarding,  and  rarely 
with  woodwork  radiating  from  the  lower  side  of 
the  triangle  upwards. 

“These  floating  houses  are  always  divided 
into  two  main  rooms — the  front  and  inner  one. 
The  floor  of  the  latter  is  about  one  foot  higher 
than  the  front.  There  are  narrow  passages 
five  feet  wide  at  the  right  and  left  of  these 
rooms,  which  are  simply  enclosed  verandahs, 
with  each  an  attap  roof,  leading  to  a narrow 
room  of  the  same  width  and  kind  in  the 
extreme  rear.  The  front  room  is  used  for  the 


21 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 

purpose  of  a variety-store,  and  the  inner  one 
for  a bed-room. 

“In  it  you  will  generally  find  the  family 
idol-altar,  if  the  occupant  be  a Chinese.  It  is 
often  used  for  putting  away  lots  of  goods,  a 
few  samples  of  which  are  daily  exposed  for 
sale  in  the  front  room.  These  exhibitions  are 
made  on  a hind  of  amphitheatre-formed  shelv- 
ing facing  the  river,  so  that  every  article  can 
be  seen  at  a glance  by  passers-by  in  boats. 
The  whole  front  is  exposed  to  view  in  the 
daytime,  not  by  opening  all  the  doors  and 
windows,  but  by  taking  down  much  of  the 
front  siding,  which  consists  of  boards  varying 
from  ten  to  twelve  inches  in  width,  standing 
up  endwise,  and  fitted  into  grooves  above  and 
below.  These  boards  are  slid  out  early  every 
morning,  one  by  one,  and  laid  away  out  of 
sight  under  the  floor,  in  a place  reserved  for 
them  during  the  day.  Early  in  the  evening 
each  board  is  put  in  its  place  for  closing  up 
the  front  of  the  shop,  leaving  not  the  least 
door  or  window  by  which  one  may  have  direct 


22 


SIAM. 


access  to  it.  But  there  is  a small  door  iu  front 
of  each  of  the  narrow  passages  in  the  extreme 
rear. 

i:  This  narrow  room  is  commonly  used  for  the 
purposes  of  a cook-room.  The  fire  place  is  sim- 
ply a shallow  wooden  box  filled  with  clay. 
There  is  no  chimney  or  stovepipe  attached  to 
any  of  them.  In  the  place  of  one  they  make  a 
scuttle  hole  in  the  thatched  roof  only  six  feet 
above,  and  this  has  a trap  door  made  of  the 
same  material  as  the  roof,  which  can  be  closed 
in  rainy  weather.  Even  in  the  best  weather 
only  a part  of  the  smoke  escapes  through  the 
opening,  while  the  remainder  finds  its  way  out 
in  all  quarters.  Consequently  this  little  cook- 
room  is  always  a very  smoky  place,  and  is  black- 
ened with  soot  to  a greater  or  less  extent,  as  are 

• 

also  many  other  parts  of  the  establishment. 

“ Some  better-to-do  occupants  of  these  floating 
houses  have  a small  bamboo  caboose,  moored  at 
one  end  of  the  dwelling  house.  The  floating 
houses  are  usually  enclosed  with  teak  boards 
standing  up  endwise,  and  permanently  fixed 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


23 


into  grooves  above  and  below.  Sometimes  tbe 
siding  is  made  of  bamboo  wattling. 

“ It  remains  to  be  shown  the  mode  of  buoying 
up  the  floating  houses  above  the  water,  which 
being  quite  unique,  deserves  a particular  descrip- 
tion. In  the  sills  of  the  house  are  framed  five 
rows  of  scantling,  four-by-six  inches  or  larger, 
which  descend  into  the  water  five  or  six  feet. 
These  are  so  arranged  that  they  divide  the 
whole  area  underneath  the  sills  into  four  equal 
parts,  or,  as  the  Siamese  say,  hawngs,  or  sec- 
tions, for  filling  with  bamboo  poles.  The  first 
object  of  these  five  rows  of  legs,  bounding  as 
they  do  the  four  equal  divisions,  is  to  • prevent 
the  bamboo  poles  from  rolling  out  sideways  uft- 
der  the  pressure  of  the  superincumbent  house; 
and  the  other  is  to  render  it  quite  convenient  to 
exchange  every  year  old  and  rotten  bamboos 
for  new  ones.  Now  a new  set  of  bamboos  will 
serve  well  the  purposes,  of  a buoy  only  about 
two  years ; and  to  save  the  trouble  of  exchang- 
ing all  under  the  house  at  once,  the  natives 
manage  to  exchange  only  half  of  them  annually, 


24 


SIAM. 


so  that  the  house  is  not  for  a moment  left  with- 
out enough  to  keep  it  well  out  of  the  water. 
This  is  done  by  removing  all  the  bamboos  from 
one  or  two  of  the  divisions  which  have  been  in 
use  two  years,  and  filling  their  places  with  new 
ones.  The  divisions  which  have  bamboos  of 
one  year’s  service  remain  undisturbed  until 
next  year;  when  their  time  has  expired,  they 
too  are  cast  out  to  give  place  to  others.  Thus 
there  are  always  left  two  divisions  of  the  last 
year’s  bamboos  to  serve  in  conjunction  with  two 
divisions  of  new  ones.  The  annual  cost  of  new 
bamboos  for  a floating  house  of  medium  size  is 
not  far  from  forty  Ticals,  and  the  number  of 
bamboo  poles  required  is  from  five  to  eight 
hundred. 

“As  these  floating  houses  are  generally  moored 
close  together,  standing  end  to  end,  in  an  even 
line  in  the  direction  of  the  river,  it  becomes 
necessary  that  the  house  which  is  to  be  replen- 
ished with  bamboos  should  be  moved  out  a 
little  in  front  of  yts  neighbor’s,  thus  making 
room  for  sliding  out  the  old  bamboos  from  either 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


25 


end,  and  sliding  in  new  ones  to  fill  their  places. 
There  are  men  who  follow  this  business  as  their 
profession,  and  do  it  very  dextrously.  One  day 
is  quite  sufficient  to  accomplish  the  whole  work 
for  any  house.  The  bamboos,  it  scarcely  need 
be  said,  are  slender  poles,  from  three  to  four 
inches  in  diameter  at  the  butt-end,  and  not 
more  than  half  that  size  at  the  top.  They  are 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet  in  length.  The 
top  ends  of  the  poles  are  always  the  ones  that 
are  pushed  under  the  house,  and  consequently 
are  hidden,  while  the  butt-end3  are  always  ex- 
ternal, forming  an  even  surface  at  each  end  of 
the  house.  The  poles  being  about  three-fourths 
the  length  of  the  house,  the  smaller  extremities 
consequently  overlap  each  other  from  eight  to 
ten  feet,  and  make  an  equal  thickness  of  buoy- 
ing material  beneath  the  middle  of  the  house, 
with  that  of  each  end. 

“A  house  newly  buoyed  up  looks  quite  tidy 
and  dry,  its  floors  being  from  three  to  four  feet 
above  water.  The  houses  are  kept  in  their 
places,  forming  a regular  line  with  their  fellows, 
2 


26 


SIAM. 


thirty  feet  or  more  from  shore,  by  means  of 
three  or  four  teak  posts  or  piles,  driven  at  each 
end  into  the  soft  bottom  of  the  river  six  or  eight 
feet;  and  these  are  made  mutual  supporters  of 
each  other  by  lashing  a bamboo  pole  across 
them  all  near  their  tops.  The  house  is  then 
fastened  to  these  posts  by  means  of  bands  or 
hoops  encircling  very  loosely  each  post,  so  that 
they  shall  readily  slip  up  and  down  as  the  tide 
raises  the  house  or  causes  it  to  settle  down. 
For  this  purpose  it  is  indispensable  that  there 
be  no  notches  or  knots  on  the  posts  that  shall 
cause  the  hoops  to  catch  on  them.  Such  a notch 
would  cause  the  post  to  be  drawn  up  out  of  its 
place  in  a flowing  tide,  and  would  sink  it  deeper 
in  an  ebbing  one.  While  sitting  in  these  houses 
you  will  often  hear  a crack,  and  consequent  sud- 
den sinking  of  the  house,  caused  by  the  sliding 
of  a hoop  out  of  the  place  where  it  had  been 
caught  on  the  posts.  Where  the  water  is  unu- 
sually deep  where  a floating  house  is  moored, 
and  the  bottom  of  the  river  unstable,  you  will 
see  the  tops  of  the  mooring  posts  made  fast  by 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


27 


a cable  to  something  firm  on  shore.  Sometimes 
the  whole  gives  way  notwithstanding,  and  then 
the  house  is  adrift  at  the  mercy  of  the  tide. 
The  writer  wras  once  in  a floating  house  that  had 
got  adrift  in  the  night  time,  and  floated  down 
the  river  many  miles  before  it  could  be  made  to 
submit  to  the  power  of  the  ropes  and  cables, 
with  which  we  endeavoured  many  times  in  vain 
to  stop  her  downward  way.  She  would  snap 
our  stoutest  ropes,  as  Samson  did  all  the  in- 
struments with  which  his  enemies  bound  him. 
These  floating  houses  are  often  moved  from 
place  to  place,  and  it  is  no  uncommon  thing  to 
see  one  floating  up  or  down  the  river  with  the 
family  in,  and  everything  going  on  as  regularly 
within  as  if  it  was  snugly  moored.” 

The  buildings  on  shore  belonging  to  the  chief 
princes  and  nobles,  are  built  of  rough  brick  and 
stuccoed  inside  and  out.  The  style  of  architec- 
ture is  a kind  of  Siamo-Chinese.  The  next  best 
kind  of  house  consists  of  posts  sunk  into  the 
ground,  which  constitute  the  frame  work,  whilst 
the  sides  are  made  of  boards  wrought  into  a 


28 


SIAM. 


kind  of  pannel  work.  Tliis  is  called  a “ rum  fa 
kadan,”  or  weatherboarded  house.  These  are 
the  houses  of  the  poorer  princes  and  nobles,  and 
the  better  class  of  the  common  people.  The 
houses  of  the  poorer  classes  of  the  common  peo- 
ple are  made  on  the  same  plan,  only  the  sides 
are  constructed  of  bamboo  wattling.  These  are 
called  “ ruen  fa  tak,”  or  open-sided  house. 

The  river  is  the  “Broadway”  of  the  city, 
whilst  canals  form  the  principal  cross  streets  or 
avenues.  Chiefly  all  travel  in  the  city,  and  in- 
deed everywhere  in  Siam,  is  done  in  boats.  If 
a person  wishes  to  go  to  church,  to  market,  to 
call  on  a friend — in  short,  any  where,  he  goes 
in  a boat.  The  rivers  are  the  great  avenues  of 
trade,  whilst  the  whole  country  near  the  Gulf 
is  intersected  by  a network  of  canals.  But  in 
those  portions  distant  from  the  rivers  or  canals 
resort  must  be  had  to  ox-carts  and  elephants. 

Siam  is  the  genial  land  of  the  elephant.  He 
roams  wild  in  her  forests,  but  those  which  have 
not  at  least  been  partially  tamed  are  now  be- 
coming scarce.  He  constitutes  in  the  northern 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


29 


provinces  the  chief  beast  of  burden,  and  one  of 
the  special  uses  to  which  he  is  put,*is  drawing 
timber  from  the  forest  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
where  it  can  be  formed  into  rafts  and  floated  to 
market.  I have  seen  a huge  elephant  with  his 
tusks  and  trunk  roll  a large  log  up  a declivity 
more  quickly  and  dextrously  than  a dozen  men 
would  have  done  it. 

Siam  has  also  been  denominated  the  land  of 
the  “white  elephant,”  from  the  peculiar  rever- 
ence shown  for  that  animal.  There  is,  however, 
no  such  thing  as  a white  elephant.  The  stand- 
ing color  is  black,  but  occasionally  one  is  found 
which  by  some  freak  in  nature  is  a kind  of  Al- 
bino, or  flesh  color.  He  comes  as  near  the  color 
of  a badly  burned  brick  as  anything  else.  The 
Siamese  do  not  call  him  a white  elephant,  but  a 
“chang  puaJc,”  a strange  colored  elephant. 
From  time  immemorial  the  Siamese  have  con- 
sidered this  strange  colored  animal  the  emblem 
of  good  luck,  and  the  king,  who  has  had  the 
greatest  number  of  them,  is  handed  down  in 


30 


SIAM. 


history  as  the  most  fortunate  monarch.  A cer- 
tain king  had  at  one  time  three  of  them.  The 
king  of  Burmah  sent  an  embassy,  asking  one  as 
a special  favor,  which  was  emphatically  denied. 
At  this  the  king  of  Burmah  took  umbrage,  and 
sent  an  army  and  took  the  whole  of  them. 
"When  one  is  found  in  the  forest,  word  is  sent 
immediately  to  the  capital,  and  preparations  are 
made  for  conducting  him  to  the  palace  with  the 
greatest  honors  and  religious  ceremonies.  He 
is  enthroned  in  a palace  within  the  walls  of  the 
king’s  palace,  and  is  henceforth  fed  on  the  lux- 
uries of  the  land.  He  seldom,  however,  lives 
long,  being  killed  with  kindness.  He  would  be 
much  happier  and  his  life  would  be  considerably 
prolonged  by  allowing  him  to  roam  in  his  native 
forest.  The  finder  of  such  an  elephant  too,  is 
generally  handsomely  rewarded.  Some  travel- 
lers have  stated  that  the  white  elephant  is  'wor- 
shipped, but  I have  never  seen  anything  of  the 
kind,  nor  do  I believe  it.  He  is,  however,  held  in 
peculiar  reverence,  because  he  is  considered  the 


i 


GEOGRAPHY,  ETC. 


31 


emblem  of  good  luck.  The  flag  of  the  country 
is  the  flag  of  the  white  elephant.  I am  told  that 
some  Frenchman  has  lately  written  a book,  in 
which  he  states  that  he  has  in  his  possession  a 
hair  from  the  tail  of  the  white  elephant  of  Siam, 
which  he  obtained  at  great  sacrifice,  and  even 
risk  of  his  life.  The  hair  he  may  have,  but  the 
rest  is  imaginary. 

The  present  population  of  Siam  cannot  be 
much  short  of  eight  millions.  The  Siamese 
proper  are  evidently  an  off-shoot  from  the  Mon- 
golian race,  but  by  what  admixtures  they  have 
arrived  at  their  present  status  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  ascertain.  Some  one  has  given  the  fol- 
lowing description  of  them,  which  is  substan- 
tially correct.  “The  average  height  is  five 
feet  three  inches,  arms  long,  limbs  large,  and 
bodies  inclined  to  obesity.  The  face  is  broad 
and  flat,  the  cheek  bones  high,  and  the  whole 
face  assumes  a lozenge  shape.  The  nose  is 
small,  mouth  wide,  and  lips  thick,  but  not  pro- 
truding. The  eyes  are  small  and  black,  and 


32 


SIAM. 


the  forehead  low.  The  complexion  rather  in- 
clined to  a yellowish  hue.  The  whole  physiog- 
nomy has  a sullen  aspect,  and  the  gait  slug- 
gish.” The  Siamese,  as  a general  thing,  do  not 
tattoo  their  bodies  as  many  eastern  nations  do. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 

flAM  proper  is  divided  into  fifty-eight  pro- 
vinces, which  are  each  presided  over  by  a 
Governor  appointed  by  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment at  Bangkok.  There  are  also  several 
Malay  states  down  the  peninsula,  and  six  or 
eight  petty  Laos  kingdoms  north  of  Siam  proper 
which  are  tributary  to  the  king  of  Siam.  These 
Laos  kingdoms  pay  a small  annual  tribute,  and 
the  King  of  Siam  claims  the  prerogative  of 
nominating  a successor  to  the  throne,  when  a 
vacancy  occurs.  This  successor  is  taken  of 
course  from  their  own  princes,  but  receives  his 
insignia  of  office  from  the  King  of  Siam.  Aside 
from  this,  each  of  those  kings  is  absolute  in  his 
own  dominions.  All  the  tributary  states,  how- 
ever, are  virtually  under  the  Protectorate  of 


34 


SIAM. 


the  King  of  Siam,  lie  being  Lord  paramount,  or 
Suzerain. 

The  civil  government  is  divided  amongst  the 
three  principal  ministers  of  state,  Chow  Pkya 
Fra  Kalehome,  Chow  Fhya  Puterapei,  and 
Choi o Fhya  Praidang.  The  Kalehome  has  spe- 
cial charge  of  the  provinces  to  the  west  and 
southwest,  and  is  Prime  Minister,  having  charge 
of  everything  pertaining  to  army  and  navy. 
Puterapei  has  charge  of  the  provinces  to  the 
north,  and  is  over  everything  that  pertains  to 
habitations  and  dwellings  of  the  people.  The 
Praidang  has  charge  of  the  provinces  to  the 
southeast,  and  is  over  all  foreign  interests,  all 
vessels  of  trade  foreign  and  domestic,  and  has 
charge  to  a certain  extent  of  the  treasury,  hence 
the  name  Praidang.  This  was  the  arrange- 
ment under  the  late  reign,  and  I presume  it  is 
very  little  changed,  if  any,  as  yet  under  the 
present. 

The  king  is  an  absolute  despot.  No  heredi- 
tary aristocracy  or  legislative  assemblies  con- 
trol his  will.  There  is  an  aristocracy  or  no- 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


35 


bility,  it  is  true,  but  their  power  is  not  felt  only 
as  instruments  in  carrying  out  the  will  of  the 
king.  The  people  exist  for  the  monarch,  and 
not  the  monarch  for  the  people.  The  laws,  as  a 
general  thing,  are  laws  of  the  king  and  not  of 
the  country.  The  old  adage,  “ New  kings  make 
new  laws,”  is  often  literally  true  in  Siam,  pro- 
viding the  new  sovereign  is  so  disposed.  He  is 
absolute  master  of  the  persons,  property,  liberty 
and  lives  of  his  subjects.  In  speaking  of  him 
they  do  not  say  he  rules  or  governs,  but  he 
“ eats  the  kingdom,”  which  is  too  often  literally 
true.  Almost  any  man  in  the  kingdom  is  lia- 
ble to  be  drafted  at  any  time  to  do  king’s  work, 
and  the  descendants  of  captives  of  war,  such  as 
Cambodians,  Peguins,  Burmese,  &c.,  are  obliged 
to  render  three  months  service,  or  its  equivalent, 
to  the  government  annually.  The  person  of 
the  king  is  held  in  extreme  sacredness  and  rev- 
erence, and  in  addressing  him  the  same  titles 
and  attributes  are  applied  to  him  which  are  ap- 
plied to  Budha.  For  one  of  his  subjects  to  in- 
quire after  the  king’s  health  would  be  an  almost 


36  SIAM. 

unpardonable  offence,  as  it  is  presumed  that  the 
king  never  takes  sick,  or  dies,  as  common  peo- 
ple do.  Some  of  these  absurd  ideas  appeared  in 
the  late  reign  to  have  become  obsolete,  but  are 
evidently  being  renewed  again  in  the  present. 
Formerly  the  king  was  both  a monopolist  and  a 
trader,  claiming  exclusive  right  over  such  com- 
modities as  tin,  ivory,  cardamums,  eagle-wood, 
Sapan-w.ood,  gamboge,  &c.,  but  when  the  late 
king  entered  into  treaty  relations  with  the 
western  powers,  this  monopoly  was  in  a great 
measure  yielded. 

It  is  strange  to  say  that  this  monarchy  is  not 
hereditary — that  is,  not  in  the  sense  that  that 
term  is  understood  in  Europe.  There  is  what 
is  called  the  Senabodee,  or  Eoyal  Counsellors, 
consisting  of  the  chief  ministers  of  state,  who 
during  the  life  of  the  king  are  merely  silent 
counsellors,  but  upon  his  death  their  power  be- 
comes manifest,  and  upon  them  devolves  the 
responsibility  of  selecting  a successor,  and  gov- 
erning the  kingdom  until  such  successor  is 
chosen.  The  successor  must  be  a prince  of  the 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


37 


realm,  but  not  necessarily  the  eldest  son  of  the 
late  king — indeed,  not  necessarily  a son  of  his 
at  all. 

The  death  of  the  late  king  occurred  about 
nine  o’clock,  F.  M.  The  l^rime  Minister  wa3 
immediately  summoned  to  the  palace,  who  con- 
vened the  Senabodee,  and  before  midnight  the 
succession  was  determined,  and  everything  go- 
ing on  smoothly.  They  chose  in  this  instance 
the  eldest  son  of  the  late  king,  Somdetch  Chowfa 
ChulalangJcorn,  a boy  about  sixteen  years  old. 

His  coronation  took  place  on  Wednesday, 
November  11,  1868,  being  the  day  decided  upon 
by  the  Brahmin  astrologers  as  the  one  most  pro- 
pitious. At  this  coronation  there  was  a slight 
innovation  upon  the  usual  Siamese  custom.  No 
European  had  ever  before  witnessed  the  corona- 
tion ceremonies  of  any  king  of  Siam.  The  late 
king,  after  his  coronation,  wrote  a private  note 
to  some  of  his  European  friends,  stating  that  he 
would  have  been  glad  to  have  had  them  pre- 
sent, but  “state  reasons  forbade  it.”  The  num- 
ber of  Europeans  present  at  the  coronation  pro- 


38 


SIAM. 


per  of  the  present  king  were  few,  consisting  of 
the  consuls  of  the  different  treaty  powers,  with 
their  suites;  the  officers  of  H.  B.  M’s  gunboat 
Avon,  and  a few  others.  The  writer  held  at 
the  time  the  seals  *>f  the  United  States  Consu- 
late, and  was  the  only  representative  of  our 
government  in  the  kingdom,  and  consequently 
received  an  invitation,  which  might  not  have 
been  accorded  to  him  as  a mere  missionary. 
The  company  of  Siamese  present  was  equally 
select,  consisting  only  of  the  chief  princes  and 
nobles  of  the  kingdom. 

The  hour  named  was  six  o’clock,  A.  M.,  but 
owing  to  some  delay  it  was  nearly  eight  when 
we  passed  into  a small  triangular  court,  facing 
one  of  the  doors  of  the  inner  audience  hall.  In 
front  of  the  door  of  the  hall  stood  an  elevated 
platform  richly  gilded,  and  upon  that  platform 
was  placed  a very  large  golden  basin.  Within 
that  basin  was  a golden  tripod,  or  three-legged 
stool.  Over  the  platform  was  a quadrangular 
canopy,  and  over  the  canopy  was  the  nine-sto- 
ried umbrella,  tapering  in  the  form  of  a pagoda. 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


39 


Over  the  centre  of  the  canopy  was  a vessel  con- 
taining consecrated  water,  said  to  have  been 
prayed  over  nine  times,  and  poured  through 
nine  different  circular  vessels  before  reaching 
the  top  of  the  canopy.  This  water  is  collected 
from  the  chief  rivers  of  Siam,  and  at  a point 
above  tidal  influence,  and  is  constantly  kept  on 
hand,  in  reservoirs  near  the  temples  in  the 
capital.  In  the  vessel  was  placed  a tube  or 
syphon,  representing  the  pericarp  of  the  lotus 
flower,  after  the  petals  have  fallen  off.  At  a 
flourish  of  crooked  trumpets,  resembling  rams’ 
horns,  the  king  elect  descended  from  the  step3 
of  the  hall,  arrayed  in  a simple  waist-cloth  of 
white  muslin,  with  a piece  of  the  same  material 
thrown  over  his  shoulders,  and  took  his  seat 
upon  the  tripod  in  the  basin.  A Brahmin  priest 
approached  him  and  offered  him  some  water  in 
a golden  lotus-shaped  cup,  into  which  he  dipped 
his  hand,  and  rubbed  it  over  his  head.  This 
was  the  signal  for  the  pulling  of  a rope,  and  let- 
ting loose  the  sacred  water  above  in  the  form  of 
a shower-bauh  upon  his  person.  This  shower- 


40 


SIAM. 


bath  represents  the  Tewadas,  or  Budhist  angels, 
sending  blessings  upon  His  Majesty.  A Budhist 
priest  then  approached  and  poured  a goblet  of 
water  over  his  person.  Next  came  the  Brahmin 
priests  and  did  the  same.  Next  came  the  chief 
princes,  uncles  of  the  king;  next  two  aged 
princesses,  his  aunts.  The  vessels  used  by  these 
princes  and  princesses  were  conch-shells,  tipped 
with  gold.  Then  came  the  chief  nobles,  each 
with  a vessel  of  a different  material,  such  as 
gold,  silver,  pinchbeck,  earthenware,  &c.  Then, 
last  of  all,  the  Prime  Minister  with  a vessel  of 
iron.  This  finished  the  royal  bath.  He  then 
descended  from  the  stool  in  a shivering  state, 
and  was  divested  of  his  wet  clothes,  and  was 
arrayed  in  regal  robes  of  golden  cloth,  studded 
with  diamonds.  In  the  south  end  of  the  audi- 
ence hall  was  an  octagonal  throne,  having  eight 
sides,  corresponding  to  the  eight  points  of  the. 
compass.  He  first  seated  himself  on  the  side 
facing  the  north,  passing  around  toward  the 
east.  In  front  of  each  side  of  the  throne  was 
crouched  a Budhist  and  a Brahmin  priest,  who 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


41 


presented  him  with  a bowl  of  water,  of  which  he 
drank  and  rubbed  some  on  his  face.  At  each 
side  they  read  to  him  a prayer,  to  which  he  re- 
sponded. I was  too  far  otf  to  hear  all,  but  the 
following  is  said  to  be  a translation  of  it. 

!•  Priest.  “ Be  thou  learned  in  the  laws  of  na- 
ture and  of  the  universe.” 

King.  “ Inspire  me,  0 Thou  who  wert  a law 
unto  thyself.” 

P.  “Be  thou  endowed  with  all  wisdom  and 
all  acts  of  industry.”  , 

K.  “Inspire  me  with  all  knowledge,  0 Thou, 
the  enlightened.” 

P.  “Let  mercy  and  truth  be  thy  right  and 
left  arms  of  life.” 

K.  “ Inspire  me,  0 Thou  who  hast  proved 
all  truth  and  mercy.” 

P.  “Let  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  bless  thee.” 

K.  “All  praise  to  Thee,  through  whom  all 
forms  are  conquered.” 

P.  “ Let  the  earth,  air,  and  water  bless  thee.” 

K.  “Through  the  merit  of  Thee,  0 Thou  con- 
queror of  death.” 

3 


42 


SIAM. 


He  was  then  conducted  to  the  north  end  of 
the  hall,  and  was  seated  upon  another  throne. 
The  insignia  of  Royalty  were  then  presented  to 
him.  They  were  handed  to  him  by  his  uncle, 
Prince  Chowfa  Maha  Mala.  First  came  the 
sword,  then  the  sceptre,  then  two  massive  gold 
chains  in  a casket,  which  he  suspended  around 
his  shoulders.  Then  came  the  crown,  which  he 
placed  on  his  own  head,  and  at  that  instant  the 
royal  salute  proclaimed  him  King,  under  the 
title  of  Prdbat  Somdetch  Pra  Paramendr 
Maha  Chulalang  Korn  Kate  Klou  Yu  Kua. 
Then  came  the  golden  slippers,  the  fan,  the 
umbrella,  two  large  massive  rings  set  with  huge 
diamonds,  which  he  placed  on  each  of  his  fore- 
fingers. Then  one  of  each  of  the  Siamese 
weapons  of  war  were  handed  him,  which  he  re- 
ceived and  handed  back.  The  Brahmins  then 
wound  up  with  a short  address,  to  which  he 
briefly  responded.  He  then  distributed  a few 
gold  and  silver  flowers  amongst  his  friends,  and 
the  Europeans  then  withdrew  to  breakfast, 
which  had  been  prepared  for  them.  It  may  be 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


43 


asked  why  the  Brahmins  officiate  so  much  when 
Siam  is  emphatically  a Budhist  country.  I have 
asked  several  well-informed  noblemen  for  the 
reason,  but  have  as  yet  been  unable  to  ascertain 
the  true  reason.  No  one  appeared  able  to  give 
any  true  reason.  There  are  a number  of  Brah- 
mins in  the  country,  but  their  existence  i3 
scarcely  ever  noticed  except  on  some  such  occa- 
sion as  the  above. 

At  11  o’clock,  A.  M.,  the  new  king  appeared 
for  the  first  time  before  his  whole  Court.  The 
outer  audience  hall  was  richly  decorated  and 
spread  with  rich  Brussels  carpet.  When  the 
Foreign  Consuls  entered  in  a body  the  whole 
Siamese  Court  was  prostrate  on  their  knees  and 
elbows  on  the  carpet.  Very  soon  the  king  en- 
tered, arrayed  in  regal  robes,  and  wearing  his 
crown,  and  seated  himself  upon  the  throne.  The 
whole  Court  simultaneously  placed  the  palms 
of  their  hands  together,  and  then  raising  them 
up  to  the  forehead,  bowed  their  heads  three 
times  to  the  floor.  The  chief  ministers  of  state 
then  formally  delivered  over  their  several  de- 


44 


SIAM. 


partments  to  the  new  monarch,  to  whom  he 
briefly  responded.  Senhor  G.  F.  Vianna,  Esq., 
Consul-General  for  Portugal,  his  being  the  old- 
est consulate,  then  on  behalf  of  the  consuls  pre- 
sent read  a short  congratulatory  address,  which 
called  forth  another  brief  response,  and  the  audi- 
ence retired. 

The  public  audiences  of  European  ambas- 
sadors and  officials  are  extremely  ridiculous. 
I have  been  present  on  several  such  occasions, 
both  as  Vice-Consul  and  as  Interpreter  to 
others.  The  King  is  seated  upon  his  throne, 
and  ' the  whole  court  resting  on  their  knees 
and  elbows  before  him,  with  their  “beam  ends” 
turned  up  to  the  gaze.  All  communication 
must  be  held  through  the  Court  Speaker. 
"When  I went  as  Interpreter,  the  communi- 
cation was  given  me  in  English,  which  I ren- 
dered into  Siamese  to  the  Speaker.  He  would 
then  commence  by  ascribing  to  the  King  a 
long  “rigmarole”  of  titles  and  attributes,  at 
the  same  time  apparently  so  much  afraid  that 
he  scarcely  knew  what  he  was  doing,  and 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


45 


by  the  time  he  was  ready  to  deliver  my  com- 
munication he  had  forgotten  about  half  of 
it.  When  he  received  the  King’s  reply,  he 
had  to  repeat  the  same  nonsense,  and  by  the 
time  he  was  ready  to  give  the  message  to 
me  there  was  but  little  of  it  left.  Had  I 
not  been  able  myself  to  catch  it  directly  from 
the  King’s  lips,  the  interview  would  have  been 
most  unsatisfactory. 

The  present  King  is  about  sixteen  years  old, 
and  is  apparently  a sprightly,  good-looking 
boy.  His  father,  some  time  before  his  death, 
had  employed  an  English  governess  for  the 
palace,  and  the  present  king,  in  common  with 
all  the  royal  children,  received  from  her  some 
knowledge  of  the  English  language,  and  proba- 
bly a smattering  of  some  of  the  sciences;  but 
when  he  ascended  the  throne,  instead  of  em- 
ploying for  him  a tutor  capable  of  instruct- 
ing him  in  the  sciences,  and  the  different  forms 
of  government,  everything  of  the  kind  was 
abandoned,  and  he  was  allowed  to  give  him- 
self up  almost  wholly  to  women,  which  is  likely 


46 


SIAM. 


to  destroy  in  a great  measure  any  original 
talent  he  may  have  had.  It  is  now  difficult 
to  tell  what  he  will  he  by  the  time  he  arrives 
at  an  age  suitable  to  assume  the  responsibility 
of  the  government.  He  is  also  at  present  very 
much  secluded  from  Europeans.  His  father, 
vain  of  his  knowledge  of  English,  and  the 
advancement  he  had  made  in  the  sciences, 
which,  to  say  the  least,  was  truly  commenda- 
able,  was  very  fond  of  European  society,  and 
was  accessible  at  almost  any  time  by  the  better 
classes  of  Europeans  in  Siam,  but  the  son, 
for  reasons  best  known  to  those  in  authority, 
is  at  present  cut  off  from  all  such  intercourse. 
I have  also  been  informed  that  he  has  removed 
from  the  palace  the  fine  European  furniture 
placed  there  by  his  father,  and  is  replacing 
it  with  Chinese  furniture,  which  looks  like  a 
step  backwards. 

The  government  at  present  is  in  the  hands  of 
His  Excellency  Chow  Phya  Sri  Surywongse, 
with  the  title  of  Regent.  He  was  Prime  Min- 
ister during  the  late  reign,  and  consequently 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


47 


chief  of  the  Senabodee.  He  is  also  a man  of 
undoubted  ability,  coupled  with  the  usual  ori- 
ental shrewdness  and  low  cunning,  and  is  with 
all  extremely  selfish  and  moody.  His  love  for 
Europeans  and  western  civilization  is  not  very 
great,  only  so  far  as  he  can  use  them  to  his 
own  advantage;  he  is  however,  too  shrewd 
a man  to  do  anything  which  would  interfere 
with  the  European  trade,  or  violate  the  exist- 
ing treaties.  The  country  is  perhaps  better 
governed  now  than  ever  it  has  been  before. 

His  younger  half-brother,  Chow  Phya  Bhan- 
uwongse,  is  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs.  He  is 
a free,  affable,  gentlemanly  man,  and  is  perhaps 
more  free  from  that  extreme  selfishness  which 
constitutes  so  large  an  element  in  Siamese  char- 
acter, than  any  man  in  the  kingdom.  He  has 
been  to  Europe,  and  has  profited  much  by  the 
trip.  His  eldest  son  is  now  in  King’s  College, 
London.  The  Foreign  Minister  is,  however, 
too  near  the  shadow  of  his  greater  brother  to 
act  out  his  natural  character,  especially  in  his 
official  capacity. 


48 


SIAM. 


During  the  last  and  present  reigns,  Siam  has 
been  the  mildest  and  best  heathen  government 
on  the  face  of  the  globe.  Oppressions  from 
high  quarters  are  very  rare.  Petty  officei’3 
sometimes  take  advantage  of  their  positions 
to  “squeeze”  the  poor.  Bedress  for  such  griev- 
ances can  always  be  had  by  appealing  to  head- 
quarters, but  there  are  usually  so  many  un- 
chained lions  in  the  way  that  such  a course  is 
seldom  resorted  to. 

There  is  also  a Second  King,  which  is  merely 
a nominal  title  without  any  of  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  government.  He  is  surrounded 
by  his  court,  and  has  nearly  all  the  honors  of 
the  First  King  shown  him,  but  has  nothing  to 
do  with  government  except  amongst  his  own 
personal  adherents.  Even  at  the  death  of  the 
First  King  he  does  not  assume,  even  tempor- 
ally, any  authority.  He  may  be  chosen  First 
King.  A few  instances  are  on  record  in  which 
this  has  been  the  case.  The  son  of  the  late 
Second  King  now  occupies  the.  second  throne, 
under  the  title  of  Krom  Pm  Paja  Bowavm 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


49 


Sahthan  Monglcoon.  This  prince  is  better 
known  to  Europeans  by  the  name  of  George 
Washington,  a name  given  him  when  a boy, 
either  by  his  father,  or  by  some  of  the  Ameri- 
can missionaries  who  taught  him  English.  His 
father  is  said  to  have  manifested  a great  love 
for  the  memory  of  Washington.  The  Second 
King  is  now  about  thirty-five  years  old,  has  a 
pretty  good  knowledge  of  English,  some  know- 
ledge of  the  sciences,  western  civilization  and 
governments,  is  polite  and  gentlemanly  in  his 
manners,  and  apparently  very  friendly  to  Euro- 
peans. He  is  also  well  liked  by  all  Europeans. 
The  commander  of  one  of  our  United  States 
war  vessels,  after  an  audience  with  the  Second 
King,  remarked  to  me  on  retiring  from  the 
palace,  “That  is  the  man  who  should  have 
been  First  King.”  The  title  of  Second  King 
appears  to  have  been  originally  established 
to  satisfy  the  disappointed  one  of  two  rival 
princes. 

The  Siamese  have  an  excellent  code  of  civil 
and  criminal  laws,  if  they  were  properly  en- 


50 


SIAM. 


forced,  but,  unfortunately,  tbe  Judiciary  are 
so  corrupt  that  justice  is  seldom  meted  out, 
the  one  paying  the  largest  bribe  generally 
gets  the  case.  The  Lord  Mayor’s  and  Sub- 
Mayor’s  Courts  are  the  chief  criminal  courts 
in  the  city.  There  are  also  within  the  palace 
walls  several  other  courts,  chiefly  for  civil 
cases,  and  presided  over  by  the  chief  Ministers 
of  State.  There  is  also  an  International  Court, 
established  by  the  late  King,  for  the  investiga- 
tion of  those  cases  in  which  both  Siamese  and 
the  subjects  of  treaty  powers  are  involved. 
Besides  these,  every  prince  of  rank  is  vested 
with  judicial  powers,  and  can  hold  court  at  his 
own  palace.  The  courts  in  the  provinces  are 
presided  over  by  the  provincial  governors,  but 
those  governors  have  not  the  power  of  life 
and  death  unless  delegated  to  them,  in  a special 
emergency,  by  the  King.  The  judge  of  any 
court  is  vested  with  full  powers  to  investigate 
and  decide  any  case,  subject,  however,  to  an 
appeal  to  the  King.  There  is,  however,  seldom 
such  an  appeal,  as,  in  other  instances  of  oppres- 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


51 


sion,  the  unchained  lions  in  the  way  are  nume- 
rous. There  are  associate  or  assistant  judges, 
hut  they  are  simply  for  the  investigation  of 
minor  cases.  The  judge  places  his  mat  down 
on  the  floor  in  one  end  of  the  court-room,  upon 
which  he  places  a three-cornered  pillow,  and 
then  places  himself  in  a reclining  position.  The 
litigants  are  crouching  around  him,  presenting 
their  cases,  and  the  whole  thing  frequently 
turns  into  a general  conversation  and  brow- 
beating. There  is  nothing  like  a jury.  The 
witnesses  are  taken  out  to  a Budhist  temple, 
where  the  following  ironclad  oath  is  admin- 
istered to  them.  “I,  who  have  been  brought 
here  as  a witness  in  this  matter,  do  now,  in  the 
presence  of  the  sacred  image  of  Budha,  declare 
that  I am  wholly  unprejudiced  against  either 
party,  and  uninfluenced  in  any  way  by  the 
opinions  or  advice  of  others;  that  no  prospects 
of  pecuniary  advantage  or  advancement  to 
office  have  been  held  out  to  me.  I also  de- 
clare that  I have  not  received  any  bribe  on 
this  occasion.  If  what  I have  now  to  say  be 


52 


SIAM. 


false,  or  if  in  my  further  averments  I shall 
color  or  pervert  the  truth  so  as  to  lead  the 
j udgment  of  others  astray,  may  the  Three  Holy 
Existences  before  whom  I now  stand,  together 
with  the  glorious  Tewadas  of  the  twenty-two 
firmaments,  punish  me.  If  I have  not  seen, 
and  yet  shall  say  I have  seen;  if  I shall  say 
I know  that  which  I do  not  know,  then  may 
I be  thus  punished.  Should  innumerable  de- 
scents of  Deity  happen  for  the  regeneration 
and  salvation  of  mankind,  may  my  erring  and 
migratory  soul  be  found  beyond  the  pale  of 
their  mercy.  "Wherever  I go  may  I be  com- 
passed with  dangers,  and  not  escape  from  them, 
whether  murderers,  robbers,  spirits  of  the 
earth,  woods,  or  water,  or  air,  or  all  the  di- 
vinities who  adore  Budha;  or  from  the  gods 
of  the  four  elements,  and  all  other  spirits. 
May  blood  flow  out  of  every  pore  of  my  skin, 
that  my  crime  may  be  made  manifest  to  the 
world.  May  all  or  any  of  these  evils  overtake 
me  within  three  days,  or  may  I never  stir  from 
the  spot  on  "which  I now  stand;  or  may  the 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


53 


lightning  cut  me  in  two,  so  that  I may  be 
exposed  to  the  derision  of  the  people;  or  if 
I should  be  walking  abroad,  may  I be  torn 
in  pieces  by  either  of  the  supernaturallv  en- 
dowed lions,  or  destroyed  by  poisonous  ser- 
pents. If  on  the  water  of  the  river  or  ocean, 
may  supernatural  crocodiles  or  great  fish  de- 
vour me;  or  may  the  winds  and  waves  over- 
whelm me,  or  may  the  dread  of  such  evils  keep 
me  a prisoner  during  life  at  home,  estranged 
from  every  pleasure.  May  I be  afflicted  with 
intolerable  oppression  of  my  superiors,  or  may 
a plague  cause  my  death;  after  which  may  I be 
precipitated  into  hell,  there  to  go  through  in- 
numerable stages  of  torture,  amongst  which 
may  I be  condemned  to  carry  water  over  the 
flaming  regions  in  wicker  baskets,  to  assuage 
the  heat  of  Than  Tretonwan,  when  he  enters 
the  infernal  hell  of  justice,  and  thereafter  may 
I fall  into  the  lowest  pit  of  hell;  or  if  these 
miseries  should  not  ensue,  may  I after  death 
migrate  into  the  body  of  a slave,  and  suffer 
all  the  pain  and  hardship  attending  the  worst 


54 


SIAM. 


state  of  such,  a being,  during  the  period  mea- 
sured by  the  sand  of  the  sea ; or  may  I animate 
the  body  of  an  animal  or  beast  during  five 
hundred  generations,  or  be  born  a hermaphro- 
dite five  hundred  times,  or  endure  in  the  body 
of  a deaf,  dumb,  blind,  and  houseless  beggar 
every  species  of  disease^  during  the  same  num- 
ber of  generations;  and  then  may  I be  buried 
to  narok,  and  there  be  crucified  by  Phya 

•XT  II 

xam. 

They  have  also  a way  of  extorting  confes- 
sions from  criminals,  which  is  terribly  severe. 
The  first  way  is  by  the  use  of  the  lash  or 
ratan.  He  first  receives  ninety  stripes,  and 
then,  if  he  don’t  confess,  he  is  allowed  a respite 
of  a few  days  and  receives  ninety  more;  and  if 
he  stills  holds  out,  he  is  allowed  another  respite, 
and  receives  ninety  the  third  time.  Any  one 
who  can  endure  three  times  ninety  without 
confessing  is  presumed  to  be  innocent.  They 
have  also  other  modes,  by  putting  split  bam- 
boos on  their  fingers,  something  like  the  thumb 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


55 


screw  of  old.  Persons  often  confess  when  they 
are  innocent,  from  fear  of  the  torture. 

They  punish  with  death  murder,  highway- 
robbery,  and  treason.  Their  mode  of  execu- 
tion is  decapitation.  The  criminals  are  brought 
out  in  chains,  and  a clamp  consisting  of  two 
bamboo  poles  is  placed  on  the  neck.  He  is 
then  made  to  sit  down  on  the  ground,  the  one 
end  of  the  clamp  resting  on  the  ground.  They 
then  most  generally  drug  the  criminal,  so  as  to 
produce  stupor,  amounting  oftentimes  to  uncon- 
sciousness, and  also  stop  up  their  ears  with  soft 
mud.  At  a signal  the  executioner  runs  out 
with  a sword  and  cuts  off  the  head.  He  gener- 
ally does  it  very  neatly  with  one  stroke,  but  I 
have  known  one  or  two  instances  in  which  the 
executioner,  to  give  him  nerve,  took  quite 
too  much  liquor,  and  made  wonderful  hacking 
of  it. 

Corporal  punishment  with  the  ratan  is  very  ■ 
common — so  common  that  there  is  little  or  no 
stigma  attached  to  it.  I have  known  high 
officers  to  be  severely  thrashed.  On  public 


56 


SIAM. 


occasions  I have  seen  those  in  charge  of  certain 
things,  who  displeased  the  King,  taken  out  and 
thi’ashed.  They  were  made  to  lie  down  on 
their  face  on  the  pavement,  and  a man  stood 
over  with  a ratan  and  put  it  down  in  no 
light  manner,  the  victim  crying,  “Ooey!  ooey!” 
at  every  stroke.  So  you  perceive  that  it  may 
in  some  respects  be  called  a ratan  govern- 
ment. 

The  revenue  of  the  country  is  derived  from 
various  sources.  Certain  things  are  sold  out 
by  the  government  to  the  highest  bidder,  who, 
when  he  receives  it,  has  full  control  of  the 
whole  matter.  He  sub-lets  again  to  other 
minor  parties  and  retailers,  and  has  full  powers 
to  punish  all  those  who  violate  the  right  which 
he  has  so  dearly  purchased.  These  are  called 
farms.  The  most  lucrative  is  the  opium  farm. 
There  is  also  the  spirit  farm,  that  is  liquor 
distilled  from  rice;  the  gambling  .farm;  the 
rice  farm ; the  cocoanut-oil  farm,  and  some 
others.  There  is  also  a tax  on  fisheries,  on 
trading-boats,  on  fruit  orchards,  on  shops  and 


THE  GOVERNMENT. 


57 


stores;  an  export  duty  on  rice,  and  an  import 
duty  of  three  per  cent,  on  all  goods  imported. 
There  is  also  a triennial  poll  tax  of  about 
two  dollars  on  every  Chinaman  in  the  kingdom, 
which  amounts  to  a large  sum  every  three 
years. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RELIGION. 

9|  HE  religion  of  Siam  is  Budhism.  It  would 
J however  be  impossible  on  an  occasion 
;j  of  this  kind  to  give  any  extended  outline 
of  Budhism,  and  besides  this  the  principal 
works  on  that  subject  in  the  English  language 
are  dry  and  uninteresting  to  the  general  reader 
or  listener.  Any  translations  from  the  Budhist 
classics  must  also  be  necessarily  stiff,  and  many 
of  the  names  unintelligible,  unless  accompanied 
with  explanations.  I shall  only,  therefore,  give 
as  brief  an  outline  as  I can  of  the  Budhist  faith, 
and  describe,  as  nearly  as  possible,  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  is  practised  in  Siam. 

Budhism  arose  from  a man  of  royal  blood 
called  Gautama,  but  by  the  Siamese,  Soma- 


RELIGION. 


59 


ncikodome.  His  father  ruled  a small  kingdom 
in  the  province  of  Oude,  near  the  Himelaya 
mountains.  Gautama  died  probably  about  534 
B.  C.,  and  is  supposed  to  have  been  nearly 
cotemporary  with  the  prophet  Daniel.  Becom- 
ing disgusted  with  the  luxuries  and  pleasures  of 
courtly  life  he  adopted  that  of  a hermit,  and 
like  all  hermits  became  an  enthusiast,  and  fan- 
cied that  he  had  found  the  only  true  road  to  all 
good,  and  thus  leaped  from  the  circle  of  eternal 
transmigration  into  a “sublimation  of  existence 
that  has  no  attribute  and  knows  no  change.” 
The  late  king  of  Siam  speaks  of  the  founder 
of  the  Budhist  faith  thus:  “Budha  was  a man 
who  came  into  being  on  a certain  time,  by  ordi- 
nary generation ; that  he  was  a most  extraordi- 
nary man,  more  mysterious  and  wonderful  than 
all  heavenly  beings,  because  he  made  vast  merit 
by  the  use  of  his  body,  his  words  and  his  will. 
He  reigned  as  king  twenty-nine  years,  (meaning 
doubtless  that  he  lived  in  princely  state  until 
twenty-nine  years  old);  that  he  then  practised 
the  most  severe  asceticism,  and  with  the  greatest 


60 


SIAM. 


assiduity  for  a period  of  six  years,  when  his 
mind  became  so  sublimated  and  refined  that 
he  habitually  numbered  and  measured  every 
thought  he  had,  fixing  his  mind  upon  that  sin- 
gle object,  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  every  other 
care,  and  that  consequently  he  attained  to  the 
highest  perfection,  not  knowing  anything  alike 
of  happiness  or  sorrow,  being  in  a middle  state 
between  the  two;  and  as  a result  of  this,  he 
then  had  power  to  remember  many  of  the 
transmigrations  of  being  through  which  he  had 
come,  and  could  see  with  angelic  eyes  distinctly 
all  the  various  and  numberless  transmigrations 
of  human,  angelic,  and  animal  being  throughout 
the  universe;  and  thence  onward  to  the  time  of 
his  death  he  gave  his  mind  entirely  to  the 
destroying  of  sin  in  his  own  body  and  soul,  and 
became  the  most  pure  and  spotless,  not  only  ex- 
ternally, but  also  in  all  the  secret  recesses  of  his 
life  and  soul,  and  thence  is  worthily  denomi- 
nated Arahang.  He  then  saw  by  his  own 
power  alone,  that  all  the  forms  and  bodies 
which  merit  and  demerit  have  caused  to  come 


RELIGION. 


61 


into  being,  and  all  other  things  which  exist 
without  any  cause,  are  altogether  illusive,  un- 
real, unsubstantial,  and  evanescent;  without  a 
maker,  proprietor,  or  lord,  and  that  hence  is  he 
also  Samma  Sampootd.  This  says  he  is  the 
sacred  Budh,  whom  others  before  us  have  thus 
eulogized  as  having  come  into  the  world,  and 
lived  in  it,  and  is  commonly  called  according  to 
his  family  name,  Gdtama.  He  spent  forty-five 
years  in  publishing  the  way  to  holiness  and 
substantial  and  eternal  peace,  and  then  extin- 
guished his  life,  and  departed  into  Nipdn.” 
The  pantheism  of  Brahminism  had  by  long 
operation  produced  that  sluggishness  of  mind — 
its  legitimate  fruit — and  confounded  the  Deity 
with  his  works,  and  making  it  appear  that  the 
aggregate  of  creation  is  itself  God.  In  opposi- 
tion to  this,  Budhism  produced  the  doctrine  that 
all  forms  are  mere  illusions,  and  that  will,  pur- 
pose, action,  feeling,  thought,  desire,  love, 
hatred,  and  every  other  attribute  that  can  be 
predicated  of  the  mind,  is  unstable,  and  unreal, 
and  therefore  cannot  be  associated  with  perfect 


62 


SIAM. 


peace.  A state  of  "sublimation  of  existence 
above  all  qualities,"  is  the  only  thing  that  is  real 
and  substantial.  Budha  has  attained  to  that 
state  which  is  called*  in  the  Pali  Nirwana,  but 
by  the  Siamese  Nipdn.  The  literal  meaning 
of  the  word  is,  “absence  of  all  desire,”  which 
involves  an  absence  of  thought,  and  may  hence 
be  called  a state  of  dreamless  perpetual  sleep. 
To  attain  to  that  state  the  Budhist  dogma,  that 
all  things  which  appear  in  creation  are  illusive, 
and  unreal,  and  consequently  unsubstantial, 
must  be  firmly  fixed  upon  the  mind.  This  les- 
son, however,  can  only  be  learned  by  the  most 
studious  application  of  the  mind,  and  moral  dis- 
cipline by  self-denial  during  a period  of  at  least 
100,000  transmigrations.  To  our  mind  Nipdn 
is  nothing  but  annihilation,  but  Budhists  will 
not  admit  it  to  be  such,  but  maintain  that  Budha 
has  a perpetual  existence  there.  Nipdn  is  the 
Budhist’s  highest  idea  of  happiness.  Omnipo- 
. tence  may  be  attained  by  perfect  virtue,  absti- 
nence, thought,  and  meditation. 

Fatality  is  the  cause  of  creation.  The  uni- 


RELIGION. 


63 


verse  came  into  existence  by  the  inherent  force 
of  fixed  and  invariable  laws,  which  brings  the 
worlds  out  of  chaos,  and  conducts  them  on  by 
gradation  to  a state  of  high  perfection,  and  then 
downward  again  by  the  same  gradation  to  dis- 
solution, and  then  back  again,  upward  and 
downward  in  a series  that  had  no  beginning, 
and  will  have  no  end.  If  any  Siamese  in 
the  kingdom  be  asked  who  made  the  world, 
he  will  invariably  answer  “pen  eng,”  it  made 
itself. 

The’  teachings  of  Budha  appear  to  have  been 
transmitted  by  tradition  for  about  four  hun- 
dred and  fifty  years  after  his  death,  and  were 
then  committed  to  writing  by  the  authority 
of  a Budhist  Council. 

The  Budhist  system  of  the  universe  is  found 
in  a book  called  the  Trei  Poom,  or  a book  set- 
tling all  questions  about  the  existence  of  the 
three  worlds.  The  Trei  Poom  of  the  Siamese 
was  originally  translated  from  the  Pali.  The 
work  was  doubtless  originally  written  in  Cey- 
lon, and  carried  thence  to  all  Budhist  countries. 


64 


SIAM. 


The  Kev.  Dr.  Bradley,  the  oldest  missionary 
in  Siam,  has  prepared  an  abstract  from  the 
Trei  Poom,  and  published  in  the  Bangkok 
Calendar,  from  which  I shall  make  a few 
extracts  on  the  present  occasion. 

The  universe  consists  of  an  infinite  number 
of  systems,  called  by  the  Siamese  Chackrawan. 
Each  Chackrawan  has  a sun,  moon  and  stars 
revolving  around  the  top  of  a central  mountain, 
called  Kow  Bra  Men,  which  extends  above  the 
surface  of  the  ocean  about  840,000  miles,  and 
the  same  distance  into  the  ocean.  It  forms 
a perfect  circle,  having  a circumference  equal 
to  2,520,000  miles.  Parallel  to  the  circle  it 
describes,  and  at  a distance  of  420,000  miles,  is 
the  first  of  seven  circular  mountains,  being 
variously  distant  from  each  other.  Their  depth 
in  water  is  the  same  as  their  height  above  it. 
The  names,  height,  circumference,  &c.,  of  these 
mountains  are  all  given,  but  would  occupy  too 
much  space  to  enumerate  here.  Between  each 
of  the  seven  mountains  is  a sea  called  Seetaw- 
tara  Samoot.  The  width  and  depth  of  each 


RELIGION. 


65 


is  as  the  distance  between  the  mountains  which 
bound  it,  and  the  depth  of  the  mountains  below 
the  surface  of  the  water.  The  water  is  exceed- 
ingly refined  and  light.  The  fish  that  live  in 
those  seas  are  wonderful  for  variety  and  size, 
being  many  thousand  miles  long.  Parallel  with 
the  circle  described  by  the  seventh  mountain, 
and  5,513,650  miles  from  it,  is  a circular 
glass  mountain,  called  Kow  Chakrawan.  This 
mountain  forms  the  horizontal  boundary  of  the 
system.  Its  height  is  820,000  miles,  and  its 
thickness  120,000.  The  circular  area  which 
this  mountain  encloses  is  12,034,500  miles  in 
diameter.  The  circumference  of  the  mountains 
on  the  outside  is  136,035,500  miles.  The  water 
on  both  sides  is  820,000  miles  deep.  The 
width  of  the  ocean  between  it  and  Kow  Asa 
Kan  is  3,513,650  miles.  Within  this  vast 
expanse  of  water  are  situated  the  four  grand 
divisions  of  the  populated  plane  or  surface  of 
the  Chakrawan.  These  are  called  Taweeps, 
which,  for  want  of  a better  term  to  express 
them,  have  been  translated  continents.  These 


66 


SIAM. 


all  have  their  appropriate  names.  The  first, 
in  its  horizontal  contour,  is  shaped  somewhat 
like  the  face  of  a man,  and  hence  is  inhabited 
by  mankind  with  faces  like  itself.  The  second 
has  a form  like  a half-moon,  and  is  inhabited 
by  an  intelligent  race  with  semi-circular  faces. 
The  third  is  a perfect  square,  and  is  inhabited 
by  square-faced  beings.  The  fourth  is  circular, 
and  is  inhabited  by  beings  having  faces  like  the 
full  moon.  The  distance  from  each  Taweep 
to  Kow  Chakrawan  is  2,798,600  miles.  Each 
Chakrawan  system  is  underlaid  by  a body  of 
water  independent  of  their  oceans.  The  dis- 
tance from  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  it  is 
260,000  miles,  and  the  depth  of  it  is  480,000 
miles.  Underlying  this  body  there  is  a stratum 
of  air  960,000  miles  in  depth,  and  thence  down- 
ward there  is  nothing  but  an  open  and  utter 
void. 

Each  Chackrawan  has  attached  to  it,  some- 
where in  the  subterranean  regions,  eight  chief 
hells,  called  by  the  Siamese _ Narok,  meaning 
worlds  of  utter  misery.  Each  of  these  hells 


RELIGION. 


67 


ha3  attached  to  it  sixteen  smaller  ones,  making 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  in  all.  Outside 
of  these  there  is  another  range  of  purgatories, 
forty  to  each  chief  hell,  making  in  all  three 
hundred  and  seventy. 

Each  Chakrawan  has  attached  to  it  six  in- 
ferior heavenly  worlds,  called  Tewalok,  situated 
above  each  other,  and  at  immense  distances 
apart.  The  first  is  situated  on  the  top  of  the 
first  of  the  seven  circular  mountains,  and  the 
second  on  the  top  of  Kow  Pra  Men.  The 
others  have  no  terrestrial  foundation,  but  are 
suspended  in  open  space. 

These  Chakrawans  are  far  more  innumerable 
than  the  particles  of  matter  which  compose  the 
earth.  A mighty  Prom  once  desired  to  find 
the  limits  of  these  systems.  He  was  so  power- 
ful that  by  one  step  he  could  cross  a Chakra- 
wan as  swiftly  as  an  arrow  crosses  the  shadow 
of  a palmyra  tree  at  midday.  He  travelled 
from  one  Chakrawan  to  another  at  that  rate 
for  one  thousand  years,  and  then  onward  ten 
thousand  more,  and  then  one  hundred  thousand 


68 


SIAM. 


more,  until  he  was  convinced  that  it  was  impos- 
sible to  find  the  limit,  or  to  express  their  im- 
mensity in  numbers. 

The  Budhist  decalogue  consists  of  ten  com- 
mandments, viz. 

I.  From  the  meanest  insect  up  to  man,  thou 
shalt  kill  no  animal  whatever. 

II.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

III.  Thou  shalt  not  violate  the  wife  of  an- 
other, nor  his  concubine. 

IV.  Thou  shalt  speak  no  word  that  is  false. 

V.  Thou  shalt  not  drink  wine,  nor  anything 
that  may  intoxicate. 

VI.  Thou  shalt  avoid  all  anger,  hatred,  and 
bitter  language. 

VII.  Thou  shalt  not  indulge  in  idle  and 
vain  talk. 

VIII.  Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor’s 
goods. 

IX.  Thou  shalt  not  harbor  envy,  nor  pride, 
nor  malice,  nor  revenge,  nor  the  desire  of  thy 
neighbor’s  death  or  misfortune. 


RELIGION. 


69 


X.  Thou  shalt  not  follow  the  doctrines  of 
false  gods. 

All  who  are  habitually  engaged  in  killing 
animals,  stealing,  committing  adultery,  drink- 
ing ardent  spirits  and  getting  drunk,  will  sink 
to  the  lowest  hell.  There  are,  however,  five 
crimes  which  are  especially  damnable,  viz., 
murder  of  father  or  mother,  murder  of  the 
highest  order  of  priests,  called  Arahang,  wound- 
ing Budha’s  foot,  so  as  to  make  it  bleed,  (sup- 
posed to  refer  to  the  renouncing  of  the  Bud- 
hist  religion,)  and  persuading  priests  to  follow 
false  doctrines  or  practices.  Those  committing 
such  sins  go  down  to  the  very  bottom  of  the 
lowest  hell. 

No  new  souls  are  ever  made,  the  universe  is 
ever  stocked  with  intelligent  beings,  and  has 
been  from  eternity.  These  are  continually 
transmigrating  from  one  state  of  being  into 
another.  All  depends  upon  merit  and  demerit. 
Every  action  and  thought  have  their  conse-" 
quences,  either  in  the  present  or  some  future 
state  of  existence.  Evil  actions  produce  evil 


70 


SIAM. 


consequences,  which  will  eventually  become 
manifest,  and  cause  a future  birth,  either  in 
hell  or  in  some  inferior  animal.  Hence,  in 
speaking  of  the  future,  the  Siamese  always  say 
"tam  boon  tam  kam"  according  to  merit  or 
demerit.  An  amount  of  demerit  may  be  can- 
celled by  a corresponding  amount  of  merit. 
We  have  had  cooks  in  our  employ  who  have 
been  obliged  to  kill  animals  such  as  chickens, 
&c.,  and  who,  after  leaving  us,  have  entered 
the  priesthood  to  atone  for  their  demerit. 

Over  four  hundred  millions  of  the  human 
race  hold  the  Budhist  religion  in  some  form  or 
other.  There  is  no  people,  however,  who  excel 
the  Siamese  in  devotedness  and  fidelity,  and 
can  show  so  many  gorgeous  temples  and  mon- 
asteries. The  government  and  the  religion  are 
so  inseparably  connected  together,  that  it  is 
impossible  to  see  how  the  one  can  be  over- 
thrown without  the  other.  It  is  a mutual 
union  of  Church  and  State.  Ho  one  can  hold 
any  civil  office  whatever  under  the  government, 


RELIGION.  71 

who  has  not  spent  at  least  three  months  in  the 
priesthood. 

Budhism  was  brought  from  Ceylon  to  Cam- 
bodia, and  thence  to  Siam,  and  probably  ar- 
rived in  Siam  about  the  fifth  century  of  the 
Christian  era.  The  Siamese  know  of  no  other 
religion  having  existed  amongst  them. 

They  make  merit  in  Siam  in  different  ways. 
One  prolific  source  is  the  building  of  temples 
or  monasteries.  These  temples  oftentimes  cover 
acres  of  ground,  and  besides  the  regular  temple 
or  shrine  of  the  idols,  have  houses  or  dormito- 
ries for  the  monks,  and  other  outbuildings. 
The  temples  are  gaudy,  but  not  magnificent, 
grand,  or  massive.  They  are  all  accompanied 
with  spires  or  pagodas,  which  frequently  reach 
a great  height.  The  temple  building  proper  is 
filled  with  idols  which  are  hideous  in  their 
appearance.  Some  are  sitting,  some  standing, 
and  some  are  in  a reclining  posture.  There  is 
one  temple  at  the  old  city  of  Audia,  said  to 
have  twenty  thousand  idols  in  it,  and  the  esti- 
mate cannot  be  far  in  excess  of  the  real  num- 


72 


SIAM. 


ber.  There  is  one  reclining  idol  in  Bangkok, 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  feet  long, 
eighteen  feet  across  the  breast,  and  the  feet  of 
the  idol  are  six  feet  long.  It  is  made  of  brick 
and  mortar,  heavily  overlaid  with  gold,  and 
cost  probably  about  $3,000.  When  the  King 
wishes  to  make  merit,  he  builds  a temple  cost- 
ing perhaps  $100,000.  When  any  of  the  chief 
princes  or  nobles  wish  to  make  merit  they  do 
the  same.  The  temples  built  by  the  princes 
and  nobles  are  all  given  to  the  King,  and  then 
formally  dedicated.  These  are  called  “Wat 
HLuang,”  or  royal  temples,  from  the  fact  that 
the  kings  visit  them  once  a year,  and  distri- 
bute presents  to  the  priests.  The  common 
people  also  join  together,  and  build  temples, 
which  are  called  “Wat  Batsadon,”  or  the  peo- 
ple’s temples.  They  are  the  same  as  the  others, 
only  not  so  grand,  and  the  kings  do  not  visit 
them.  There  are  in  the  city  of  Bangkok  alone 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  temples. 

Another  prolific  source  of  merit  is  by  enter- 
ing the  priesthood.  It  is  the  highest  ambition 


RELIGION. 


73 


of  every  mother  to  have  all  her  sons  take  holy 
orders  in  the  priesthood,  at  some  time  or  other 
during  life,  but  generally  in  the  prime  of  it,  as 
they  thus  not  only  make  merit  for  themselves, 
but  also  for  the  parents.  It  consequently 
becomes  an  ambition  to  have  as  many  sons  as 
possible.  The  advent  of  a son  is  hailed  with 
delight,  whilst  that  of  a daughter  is  rather  an 
occasion  of  lamentation.  The  first  question 
asked  on  the  advent  of  a little  stranger  is,  “pen 
pu  chai  rfi  pu  ying”?  is  it  a boy  or  a girl? 
When  our  first  child  was  born,  and  our  Siamese 
friends  came  to  see  the  little  white  stranger, 
finding  it  to  be  a girl,  the  only  congratulations 
they  offered  were,  “terapte  Mad  tempte,”  too 
bad,  Doctor,  too  bad.  The  shortest  time  any 
one  can  remain  in  the  priesthood  is  three 
months,  and  as  much  longer  as  they  choose. 
I have  met  men  who  had  been  in  the  priest- 
hood over  forty  years.  I have  met  them  also 
who  had  been  in  it  a number  of  times.  It  is 
no  uncommon  thing  for  a man  to  leave  his 
5 


74 


SIAM. 


wife  and  family  for  a short  time,  and  enter 
the  priesthood. 

The  ceremony  is  very  simple,  consisting  of 
asking  the  candidate  a few  questions  as  to 
his  motives,  shaving  his  head,  and  bathing 
him  copiously  with  holy  water,  and  clothing 
him  with  yellow  robes.  They  have  also  the 
order  of  nains,  or  novices,  consisting  of  those 
too  young  to  take  full  orders.  The  clothing  of 
the  priests  consists  of  a yellow  robe  resembling 
somewhat  the  old  Roman  toga,  with  a scarf  of 
the  same  material,  or  something  richer,  thrown 
over  the  shoulders.  But  as  Budha  was  clothed 
in  rags,  they  must  imitate  to  some  extent  his 
example,  they  therefore  take  the  new  yellow 
cloth,  tear  it  in  pieces,  and  then  sew  it  together 
again.  This  is  done  by  the  women,  and  is  also 
a source  of  merit. 

The  priests  go  out  early  in  the  morning  for 
their  daily  food.  At  every  house  is  stationed 
some  member  of  the  family,  with  a basin  of 
boiled  rice,  and  a large  brass  spoon  in  it. 
When  a priest  comes  along  he  uncovers  his 


RELIGION. 


75 


vessel,  and  receives  a spoonful  of  rice,  and 
then  passes  on  to  the  next  house.  Some  also 
give  fish,  fruit,  and  other  things  to  eat  with  the 
rice.  When  sufficient  rice  is  collected  for  the 
day,  they  return  to  the  temples  and  take  the 
morning  meal.  The  next  meal  is  eaten  just 
before  noon,  and  nothing  more  until  the  next 
morning.  It  is  considered  very  sinful  for  a 
priest  to  eat  after  noon.  The  people  also  fre- 
quently meet  together  at  the  different  temples, 
and  make  feasts  for  the  priests,  and  give  pre- 
sents to  them. 

There  are  in  Bangkok  alone  over  ten  thou- 
sand priests,  and  all  that  vast  army  can  be  seen 
starting  out  early  every  morning  in  search 
of  their  daily  food. 

It  must  cost  Siam  annually  nearly  $25,000,- 
000  to  keep  up  the  priesthood  alone,  and  sup- 
posing the  population  to  be  eight  millions, 
which  is  perhaps  an  over-estimate,  it  will  make 
on  an  average  of  over  three  dollars  for  every 
man,  woman  and  child  in  the  kingdom.  Now, 
if  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  evangeli- 


76 


SIAM. 


cal  Christian  Church  would  average  three  dol- 
lars per  annum,  there  would  not  be  so  many 
starving  ministers,  and  the  Boards  of  the 
Church  would  not  be  compelled  so  frequently 
to  go  a begging.  The  world  too,  at  that  rate, 
would  soon  be  evangelized.  If  the  heathen  can 
do  so  much  for  a false  religion,  what  should 
Christians  not  be  willing  to  do  for  the  holy 
religion  of  Jesus,  to  which  they  owe  everything 
they  have,  and  are,  and  hope  to  be? 

Any  violation  of  the  laws  of  chastity  whilst 
in  the  priesthood  is  most  severely  punished. 
The  culprit  is  publicly  whipped  with  a ratan. 
He  is  then  paraded  for  three  days  around  the 
city  with  a crier  going  before,  proclaiming  his 
crime,  and  is  then  condemned  to  cut  grass  for 
the  king’s  elephants  for  life,  and  his  posterity 
after  him,  to  the  most  remote  generation.  The 
other  offending  party  is  condemned  to  turn  the 
king’s  rice-mill  for  life,  and  her  posterity  after 
her  to  the  most  remote  generation.  In  conse- 
quence of  the  severe  punishment,  slips  of  that 
kind  whilst  in  the  priesthood,  in  proportion  to 


RELIGION. 


77 


the  numbers,  are  much  less  frequent  than  among 
the  Christian  ministry.  Sodomy,  however,  and 
other  unmentionable  crimes,  are  fearfully  pre- 
valent. 

The  priests  are  the  only  persons  in  the  king- 
dom who  are  not  obliged  to  crouch  before  the 
king.  The  king  himself  crouches  before  the 
high-priest.  When  any  one  meets  a priest,  he 
places  the  palms  of  his  hands  together  and 
raises  them  to  his  forehead  in  reverence. 

The  duty  of  the  priests  is  to  take  care  of  the 
religion,  recite  prayers  at  funerals,  weddings, 
&c,,  and  preach  when  called  upon  to  do  so.  The 
people  frequently  invite  the  priests  to  their 
houses  to  have  preaching.  The  sermons  con- 
sist chiefly  of  exhortations  to  make  merit,  and 
are  generally  in  such  lofty  words  and  terms, 
taken  from  the  Pali,  that  the  common  people 
do  not  understand  them; 

The  Siamese  also  make  pilgrimages  to  Prabat 
and  other  sacred  places.  Prabat  is  a beautiful 
little  volcanic  mountain  about  eighty  miles 
north  of  Bangkok.  The  rocks  appear  to  have 


78 


SIAM. 


been  thrown  up  in  a plastic  state,  and  in  cooling 
down  left  innumerable  little  holes  "or  crevices  in 
the  solid  rock.  One  of  these,  about  six  feet 
long,  is  imagined  to  be  the  impress  of  Budha’s 
foot.  They  have  accordingly  bricked  it  up,  and 
have  overlaid  the  wall  with  gold  leaf.  They 
have  also  erected  over  it  a beautiful  little  tem- 
ple, whose  floor  is  covered  with  silver  cloth, 
and  whose  walls  are  heavily  covered  with  gold. 
Vast  multitudes  flock  thither  during  the  months 
of  January  and  February  of  every  year,  to 
make  their  offerings  at  that  sacred  shrine. 
The  principal  offering  is  gold  leaf,  which  they 
paste  on  the  inside  of  the  footprint.  There  are 
at  least  $5000  expended  there  annually  in  gold 
leaf  alone.  The  little  caves  also,  with  which 
the  mountain  abounds,  are  filled  with  idols,  and 
every  prominent  point  is  capped  with  a -pagoda . 
At  the  foot  of  the  mountain  is  rather  a hideous 
idol,  at  which  all  pilgrims  dismount  from  their 
elephants,  and  make  an  offering  before  ascend- 
ing to  the  more  holy  place.  The  offering  con- 
sists chiefly  of  a twig  from  a tree,  or  a few  flow- 


RELIGION. 


79 


ers.  The  tradition  is,  that  whoever  refuses  to 
make  this  offering  will  die  before  leaving  the 
place.  They  were  very  much  surprised  that  we 
refused  at  least  to  dismount.  They  told  us  that 
Sir  Robert  Schomburgk,  the  English  Consul, 
who  had  visited  there  the  previous  year,  had 
also  refused  to  dismount,  and  that  he  himself 
had  not  died,  but  a favorite  dog  he  had  with  him 
on  the  elephant  had  died  before  he  left  the 
mountain.  Sir  Robert  however,  had  a differ- 
ent theory  in  regard  to  his  dog,  and  blamed 
some  one  for  administering  to  him  a dose  of 
poison.  Many  of  the  most  intelligent  princes 
and  nobles  have  no  faith  in  Prabat,  but  still 
assist  in  keeping  up  the  delusion. 

There  is  also  a short  distance  north  of  Prabat 
a very  lofty  rock  called  Pra  Chei,  or  sacred 
glory,  where  Budha  is  said  to  have  once  taken 
shelter  from  a shower  of  rain,  and  departing, 
left  his  shadow.  Multitudes  also  flock  thither 
to  worship.  We  arrived  there  about  ten  o’clock 
at  night,  and  upon  ascending  a long  flight  of 
steps,  found  numbers  bowed  before  the  rock 


80 


SIAM. 


and  pasting  gold  leaf  upon  it.  When  we  told 
them  that  we  could  see  no  shadow,  they  attri- 
buted it  to  a want  of  faith. 

The  Siamese  are  also  very  much  tormented 
with  the  fear  of  spirits,  both  good  and  evil,  and 
nse  every  means  to  propitiate  them.  Witch- 
craft is  also  very  much  feared.  Wizards  and 
witches  are  believed  to  have  power  to  put  into 
the  stomach  of  any  one  a piece  of  buffalo  meat, 
or  other  substance.  A very  disgusting  circum- 
stance of  this  kind  occurred  near  our  premises. 
The  father  of  a certain  family  took  sick  and  died. 
The  family  believed  some  foul  play  had  been 
exercised  in  his  case,  and  when  they  came  to 
burn  the  body,  a small  portion,  perhaps  the 
heart,  did  not  consume  as  rapidly  as  the  rest. 
This  was  taken  at  once  to  be  the  buffalo  meat, 
and  was  taken  home  and  eaten  by  the  family. 
The  whole  family  ate  of  it,  except  one  little  girl 
who  was  absent  in  the  family  of  a missionary. 
The  belief  is  that  if  they  eat  of  it,  they  can  never 
be  affected  the  same  way. 

; It  is  just  to  state  that  there  are  two  schools 


RELIGION. 


81 


of  Budhism  in  Siam.  The  late  king,  whilst  a 
prince  and  in  the  priesthood,  studied  astronomy, 
and  became  too  intelligent  to  believe  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Budhist  books  in  reference  to  the 
system  of  the  universe,  and  accordingly  under- 
took to  reform  Budhism,  by  discarding  from 
the  sacred  books  all  those  things  which  con- 
flicted with  modern  science,  and  especially  in 
reference  to  astronomy.  Many  of  the  most 
intelligent  princes  and  noble3  went  with  him. 
A vast  majority,  however,  swallow  the  whole 
f the  Budhist  teachings. 

The  greatest  champion  of  the  New  School  was 
'how  Phya  Thipakon,  late  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs.  He  was  in  some  respects  the  greatest 
thinker  in  the  kingdom.  He  was  the  only  man 
in  the  kingdom  who,  as  yet,  has  ventured  to 
write  a book,  and  have  it  printed  wholly  by  his 
own  workmen.  It  consists  of  several  hundred 
pages,  and  was  lithographed  throughout,  which 
must  have  taken  considerable  pains  and  labor. 
The  title  is  “ Kitchanukit,”  a book  explaining 
many  things.  He  commences  by  rather  ridi- 


82 


SIAM. 


culing  the  elementary  system  of  education  prac- 
tised in  the  temples,  and  tries  to  stimulate 
the  natives  to  better  things.  He  also  takes  up 
the  different  systems  of  religion  throughout  the 
world,  so  far  as  his  knowledge  extends,  and  com- 
pares them  with  his  own.  He  confutes,  in  his 
own  way,  the  elementary  religious  tracts  pub- 
lished by  the  missionaries,  and  the  evidences  of 
Christianity.  He  maintains  his  belief  in  his 
own  system,  and  gives  a few  arguments  in  favor 
of  the  transmigration  of  souls.  He  also  gives  a 
number  of  illustrations  and  anecdotes  bearing 
on  that  subject,  of  which  the  following  is  a spe- 
cimen : "Another  instance  is  that  of  the  child  of 
a Peguan  at  Paklat,  (a  town  near  Bangkok,)  who, 
as  soon  as  he  had  learned  to  speak,  told  his 
parents  that  he  was  formerly  named  Makran, 
and  had  been  killed  by  a fall  from  a cocoanut 
tree,  and  as  he  fell,  his  axe  fell  from  his  hand 
and  dropped  into  a ditch;  and  they  seeing 
that  his  story  coincided  with  something  that 
had  happened  within  their  knowledge,  tried  the 
child  by  making  him  point  out  the  tree,  and  he 


KELIGION. 


83 


pointed  out  the  tree,  and  his  story  was  con- 
firmed by  their  digging  up  the  axe  from  the 
ditch.” 

Although  the  book  evinces  some  thought  and 
considerable  knowledge,  it  is  infantile  when  he 
attempts  to  grapple  with  the  great  truths  of 
Christianity.  H.  Alabaster,  Esq.,  for  ten  years 
Interpreter  to  H.  B.  M.  Consulate  in  Siam,  has 
translated  portions  of  the  book,  accompanied 
with  remarks  of  his  own,  and  published  it  under 
the  title  of  “The  Modern  Budhist.” 

It  may  be  asked,  what  is  the  effect  of  such  a 
system  of  religion  upon  the  morals  of  the  peo- 
ple in  comparison  with  those  of  eminently  Chris- 
tian countries  ? There  are  many  kinds  of  crimes 
in  which  Christian  nations  far  surpass  them, 
such  as  those  daring  and  dark  outrages  perpe- 
trated in  our  large  cities,  the  recital  of  which 
shocks  our  sensibilities  every  time  we  take  up  a 
morning  paper.  But  heathen  morals  have  ever 
been  the  same,  and  the  description  which  Paul 
gives  of  the  heathen  of  old,  in  the  first  chapter  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  is  a complete  descrip- 


84 


SIAM. 


tion  of  the  heathen  of  to-day.  There  is  a rot- 
tenness about  everything,  morally  speaking, 
which  we  do  not  find  in  Christian  countries. 
It  would  be  impossible  on  an  occasion  of  this 
kind,  and  before  a mixed  audience,  to  give 
you  any  idea  of  the  prevailing  state  of  mor- 
als. I am  not  one  of  those,  who,  like  the 
English  governess  in  the  Atlantic  Monthly, 
would  consider  Budhism  a shadow  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  “ thank  God”  for  it.  It  is  emi- 
nently the  offspring  of  Satan,  as  all  its  bearings 
and  workings  on  the  heart  and  morals  will 
abundantly  show.  I have  seen  none  of  those 
glorious  death-bed  scenes  which  she  describes, 
and  think  they  are  rare.  A Siamese  man  lived 
neighbor  to  us  for  ten  years.  He  could  sit  in 
his  own  door  and  hear  the  gospel  preached  in  our 
mission  chapel.  He  was  an  excellent  neighbor, 
and  was  to  all  appearance  a moral  man.  He 
had  observed,  as  nearly  as  possible,  all  the 
tenets  of  his  religion.  He  had  made  merit  in 
every  possible  way.  All  his  sons  had  en- 

tered the  priesthood.  He  was  about  seventy 


Si 


RELIGION.  85 

years  old,  and  his  death-sickness  came.  The 
future  was  all  dark  to  him.  He  struggled  with 
disease  and  death  for  a number  of  days.  One 
of  our  native  church  members  called  to  see  his 
old  neighbor,  and  ventured  to  speak  to  him 
about  the  approaching  change.  The  old  man 
was  unwilling  to  give  up,  and  answered,  “ Mai 
yak  tai,”  I do  not  want  to  die ; “ Klua  tai,”  I 
am  afraid  to  die;  and  then  summoning  all  his 
remaining  strength  exclaimed,  “Cha  mai  tai,”  I 
will  not  die.  Still  he  had  to  die,  as  millions  of 
his  race  have  done,  without  one  ray  of  light  to 
illuminate  the  soul,  and  no  faith  in  Jesus  open- 
ing up  to  him  the  glories  of  the  eternal  world. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


EDUCATION  AND  LITERATURE. 


HE  education  of  the  Siamese  is  necessarily 
limited  and  the  standard  low,  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  European  countries. 
The  temples  or  monasteries  are  the  common 
schools  of  the  country.  Every  priest  can  take 
to  the  temple  with  him  as  many  pupils  as  he 
can  teach,  so  that  at  almost  every  temple  can  be 
found  a nice  collection  of  boys,  making  a very 
respectable  school.  These  boys  besides  being 
taught  the  rudiments  of  their  own  language, 
and  the  tenets  of  the  Budhist  religion,  act  also 
as  servants  to  the  teacher,  propelling  his  boat 
when  he  goes  out  on  the  river,  and  doing  other 
like  menial  turns  for  him.  They  live  on  the 
surplus  rice  which  is  left,  after  the  priests  are 


EDUCATION  AND  LITERATURE. 


87 


satisfied.  Every  pupil  is  taught  to  hold  his 
teacher  in  special  reverence,  which  lasts  through 
life.  The  males  are  all  thus  gathered  in  when 
hoys,  and  taught  to  read  and  write  their  own 
language,  and  the  simple  rules  of  arithmetic,  as 
the  Siamese  knowledge  of  that  art  does  not 
extend  beyond  the  simple  rules.  It  is  conse- 
quently rare  that  a male  can  be  found  who  can- 
not read  and  write  his  own  language,  and  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  just  as  rare  that  a female  is 
found  who  can.  No  provision  has  yet  been 
made  there  for  the  education  of  females.  Indeed 
the  feeling  in  high  quarters  has  hitherto  been 
against  it,  but  not  near  so  strong  as  in  India, 
and  many  other  places,  hut  that  feeling  is  now 
happily  passing  away.  It  used  to  be  said  that 
if  woman  could  read  she  would  become  too 
tricky  for  man.  The  females,  amongst  the  com- 
mon people  especially,  are  the  drudges,  and 
become  wives  and  mothers  so  early,  that  there  is 
but  little  time  for  their  education.  Some  of  the 
women  of  the  higher  classes  have  in  some  way 
learned  to  read,  and  the  missionary  ladies  have 


88 


SIAM. 


managed  to  teach  some  few  others  to  read, 
whilst  employed  in  their  families,  but  aside  from 
these  few  exceptions  the  great  mass  of  the 
women  are  ignorant  of  letters.  The  late  king 
made  one  or  two  spasmodic  efforts  to  have  the 
women  of  the  palace  taught  English.  Soon  after 
he  ascended  the  throne  he  employed  some  of  the 
missionary  ladies  to  go  to  the  palace  regularly 
and  teach,  but  soon  became  alarmed  lest  they 
should  teach  too  much  religion,  and  requested 
them  to  stop.  A few  years  previous  to  his 
death  also,  he  employed  an  English  governess 
in  the  palace,  who,  after  about  three  years  rather 
arduous  labor  succeeded  in  giving  the  women 
and  children  of  the  palace  some  knowledge  of 
English,  and  perhaps  a smattering  of  some  of  the 
sciences.  The  higher  order  of  education  amongst 
the  males  consists  of  a correct  knowledge  of 
thffir  own  language,  and  a smattering  at  least 
of  the  Pali  or  sacred  language.  Some  few  who 
remain  sufficiently  long  in  the  priesthood  make 
considerable  proficiency  in  the  Pali.  The' 
standard  of  education  is  also  rather  depreciating 


EDUCATION  AND  LITERATURE. 


89 


than  rising.  Missionaries  now  find  it  difficult 
to  secure  a young  man  sufficiently  educated  to 
make  a good  teacher.  One  reason  of  this  is 
that  since  the  country  has  been  opened  to 
foreign  commerce,  opportunities  to  make  money 
are  more  common  than  previously,  and  young 
men  do  not  now  remain  sufficiently  long  in  the 
priesthood  to  become  good  scholars,  but  leave  it 
to  go  into  business. 

The  Siamese  language  proper  is  monosyllabic 
and  rather  poverty-stricken.  It  has  however, 
been  enriched  from  time  to  time  from  the  Pali, 

' and  from  the  languages  of  the  surrounding 
nations,  and  by  a few  words  from  the  Chinese. 
Titles  of  nobility  and  distinction  are  all  taken 
from  the  Pali.  Many  of  the  words  used  in 
addressing  the  King,  and  others  high  in  au- 
thority, have  been  transferred  from  the  Pali, 
and  some  few  from  the  Sanscrit.  The  late 
King  professed  to  be  proficient  in  the  Sanscrit, 
and  some  of  their  learned  men  now  make  pre- 
tensions in  that  way.  It  is  doubtful,  however, 
whether  the  late  King,  although  the  most 
6 


90 


SIAM. 


learned  man  in  tlie  kingdom,  liad  anything 
more  than  a smattering  of  Sanscrit,  and  I do  not 
suppose  there  is  any  one  now  in  the  kingdom 
who  knows  anything  about  it  worth  naming. 

The  Siamese  alphabet  consists  of  forty-four 
consonants,  with  several  vowel-points,  diacriti- 
cal marks  and  abbreviations.  The  alphabet  is 
divided  into  three  classes,  and  there  are  also 
seven  tones,  so  that  words  beginning  with  a 
certain  class  of  letters  are  spoken  with  a raised 
tone,  whilst  others  are  spoken  with  rather  a 
depressed  tone.  Some  of  the  consonants  too, 
are  spoken  with  an  aspirate,  whilst  in  others 
the  aspirate  is  withheld.  Tim  putting  on  the 
tone  and  the  aspirate  in  certain  instances,  and 
leaving  them  off  in  others,  makes  it  very  diffi- 
cult for  one  not  born  to  it  to  acquire  the 
language  correctly.  “ Kai,”  with  an  aspirate, 
means  an  egg,  but  by  leaving  off  the  aspirate 
it  is  a chicken.  Although  spelled  somewhat 
differently,  the  sound  to  an  unaccustomed  ear 
is  exactly  the  same.  In  these  things  foreigners 
make  some  ridiculous  mistakes.  You  have  all 


EDUCATION  AND  LITERATURE. 


91 


probably  heard  of  the  missionary  lady  some- 
where, who,  whilst  in  her  garden,  told  a servant 
to  bring  her  a knife,  as  she  thought,  bat  was 
surprised  to  see  him  coming  out  with  a table  on 
his  head.  I once  heard  a missionary,  otherwise 
good  in  the  language,  but  who  could  never 
manage  the  aspirates  and  unaspirates  correctly, 
announcing  to  his  audience  that  there  would  be 
services  at  such  an  hour  in  the  Siamese  lan- 
guage, but  unfortunately  he  left  off  the  aspi- 
rate, and  announced  that  there  would  be  ser- 
vices in  the  dead  language.  Still  the  audience 
understood  from  the  connection  what  he  meant. 

The  literature  of  the  Siamese  is  very  meagre. 
They  have  a history  of  their  country  which 
commences  in  fable,  but  after  a few  pages  are 
passed,  it  becomes  a correct  and  reliable  history 
of  the  kingdom.  It  is  written  in  a condensed 
style,  and  couched  in  good  language.  They 
have  also  tolerably  reliable  histories  of  the 
neighboring  countries,  such  as  Cambodia,  Pegu, 
and  Birmah.  They  are  exceedingly  fond  of 
fiction,  and  have  a fabulous  history  of  China, 


92 


SIAM. 


■which  has  been  translated  into  Siamese,  and  is 
very  popular.  The  Regent  and  Foreign  Min- 
ister have  both  been  recently  engaged  in  trans- 
lating additions  to  that  fabulous  history.  If 
they  would  take  as  much  pains  in  translating 
the  histories  of  the  different  countries  of  Europe 
and  of  America,  their  people  would  soon  become 
well  informed  in  regard  to  the  great  trans- 
actions of  the  world.  The  remainder  of  their 
literature  consists  in  vile  and  disgusting  plays, 
in  which  they  take  great  delight,  both  in  read- 
ing and  seeing  them  performed  in  their  thea- 
tres. They  are  also  very  fond  of  a kind  of 
jingling  verse,  and  wdll  listen  for  hours  to  the 
mere  jingle,  caring  little  or  nothing  for  the 
sense,  of  which  it  is  generally  devoid. 


CHAPTER  V. 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

j HE  principle  clothing  of  the  Siamese  con- 
3 sists  of  a waist-cloth  called  a “pa  nung,” 
j corresponding  to  the  sarang  of  India.  It 
is  about  two-and-one-half  yards  long,  and  one 
yard  wide;  is  placed  around  the  waist,  neatly 
tucked  in,  the  two  ends  brought  together, 
twisted,  and  brought  back  between  the  legs 
and  tucked  in  behind.  Formerly  this  was  the 
only  clothing  worn,  except  a scarf  thrown 
around  the  shoulders  in  cool  weather.  The 
King  formerly  used  to  receive  foreigners  whilst 
dressed  in  that  style.  Since  the  influx  of  for- 
eigners however,  they  have  adopted  a neat 
jacket  with  sleeves,  and  cut  to  fit  tight  to  the 
skin,  and  buttoned  up  in  front.  Those  of  the 


M 


SIAM. 


higher  classes  are  made  of  silk,  but  those  of  the 
common  people  are  nothing  but  common  white 
muslin.  The  “pa  nungs,”  also,  of  the  better 
classes  are  made  of  silk,  whilst  those  of  the 
common  people  are  generally  cotton.  The  attire 
of  the  females  is  pretty  much  like  that  of  the 
males,  except  when  they  wish  to  dress,  they 
have  a neat  yellow  silk  scarf  which  they  fold 
gracefully  over  the  shoulders.  The  Siamese 
display  excellent  taste  in  the  selection  of  colors 
and  figures,  and  have  no  love  for  the  gaudy  in 
the  way  of  clothing,  like  the  Malays  and  some 
other  eastern  nations.  Shoes  are  seldom  worn. 
The  better  classes  have  sandals  or  slippers,  but 
very  likely  a slave  will  be  carrying  them  after 
the  owner,  and  when  worn,  are  always  thrown 
off  before  entering  a house.  Occasionally  how- 
ever, you  can  see  some  young  fellow  render- 
ing himself  ridiculous  in  a pair  of  European 
shoes  and  a European  coat. 

The  males  shave  the  head,  except  a tuft  on 
the  top,  which  resembles  a shoe-brush.  The 
females  do  not  shave  the  head,  but  clip  the  hair 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


95 


as  closely  as  possible,  leaving  the  tuft  similar  to 
the  males,  and  a small  love-lock  in  front  of  each 
ear. 

They  have  a universal  and  disgusting  prac- 
tice of  chewing  the  areca  nut.  The  nut  of  the 
areca  palm  is  possessed  of  astringent  properties 
similar  to  the  bark  used  in  tanning.  In  con- 
nection with  this  nut  they  use  the  leaf  of  the 
seri  vine,  which  has  a kind  of  pepperish  taste. 
They  take  white  stone  lime  while  yet  unslaked, 
and  mix  with  it  the  powdered  turmeric  root, 
which  turns  it  a crimson  color.  They  take  the 
seri  leaf  and  put  on  it  a quantity  of  that  red 
lime  in  the  form  of  paste,  and  then  a portion  of 
the  areca  nut,  the  leaf  with  the  lime  on  it,  and 
some  fine  cut  tobacco,  are  all  put  into  the 
mouth  together.  The  saliva  arising  from  such 
a mixture  is  a kind  of  blood-red  color,  and  is 
very  copious.  Their  houses  and  walks  have 
frequently  a very  disgusting  appearance,  from 
large  deposits  of  that  red  saliva  having  been 
spit  out  of  the  mouth  upon  them.  This  pro- 
cess turns  the  teeth  black,  and  indeed  destroys 


96 


SIAM. 


them,  as  the  lime  adheres  to  the  teeth  and  * 
destroys  the  enamel,  and  finally  they  drop  out 
by  wholesale.  Those  who  have  no  teeth  to 
chew  the  mixture,  carry  with  them  a small 
mortar,  and  pound  it  all  up  together  before 
putting  it  into  the  mouth.  Both  sexes  are 
addicted  to  this  practice,  and  an  exception  can 
rarely  be  found. 

Black  teeth  are  an  element  of  beauty,  and 
besides  the  chewing  of  the  areca  nut,  they 
resort  to  other  means  of  coloring.  When  cau- 
tioned against  thus  destroying  the  teeth,  they 
invariably  reply  that  “any  monkey  can  have 
■white  teeth.”  They  never  go  anywhere  with- 
out the  box  containing  the  ingredients  for 
chewing.  The  poorer  classes  carry  their  own, 
but  the  rich  have  theirs  carried  after  them  by 
a slave.  A man’s  rank  is  indicated  somewhat 
by  the  number  of  slaves  that  follow  him,  and 
the  golden  box  containing  the  areca  nut,  &c., 
and  a teapot,  are  the  insignia.  When  one  per- 
son calls  on  another,  almost  the  first  thing 
done  is  to  set  out  the  tray  containing  the  chew- 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


97 


ing  material,  and  not  to  do  so  is  considered 
almost  an  insult.  The  males  are  also  all  in- 
veterate smokers  from  infancy. 

In  going  anywhere  together,  they  never  walk 
side  by  side  as  we  would  do,  but  one  after  the 
other,  according  to  rank  or  age.  The  husband 
also  always  goes  before,  and  his  wife  or  wives 
walk  behind.  It  is  also  contrary  to  Siamese 
custom  to  have  any  one  pass  over  their  head, 
and  consequently  they  will  not  occupy  the 
lower  story  of  a house  when  persons  are  above 
them  on  the  next  story.  When  the  King  goes 
out  on  the  canals  in  his  boat,  all  the  bridges 
have  to  be  drawn,  lest  his  sacred  head  should 
pass  under  where  some  person  had  walked. 
Ko  greater  insult  can  be  offered  than  to  take  a 
man  by  the  tuft  of  hair  on  his  head.  It  is  the 
same  as  spitting  in  a man’s  face  with  us. 

Like  all  heathen,  and  I am  sorry  to  say  too 
many  Christians,  they  are  very  fond  of  jewelry, 
especially  the  women.  Their  fingers  are  fre- 
quently nearly  covered  over  with  rings;  gold 
chains  are  also  thrown  around  the  neck  and 


98 


SIAM. 


shoulders,  and  a neat  gold  pin  through  the  lobe 
of  the  ear.  Children  wear  anklets  and  brace- 
lets. Those  of  the  rich  are  of  gold,  and  quite 
heavy;  some  are  of  silver,  and  those  of  the 
poorer  classes  are  brass.  I have  seen  some  of 
the  children  of  princes  and  nobles  with  several 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  jewelry  on  in  the 
form  of  anklets,  bracelets  and  gold  chains,  and 
aside  from  the  jewelry  the  body  was  perfectly 
nude. 

The  people  are  very  much  attached  to  the 
customs  of  their  ancestors,  and  what  their 
fathers  have  done  they  must  do,  how  absurd 
soever  it  may  be.  11  Pen  tumneum  Thai,”  it  is 
Siamese  custom,  is  sufficient  reason  for  doing 
anything. 

The  principle  food  of  the  Siamese  is  rice  and 
fish.  Fish  are  very  abundant  and  cheap,  and 
become  a wholesome  diet  for  that  climate.  It 
is  contrary  to  their  religion  to  take  animal  life, 
and  they  never  kill  any  animals  for  their  own 
consumption,  but  they  do  not  scruple  to  eat  any- 
thing killed  by  another,  if  they  can  only  roll  off 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


99 


the  responsibility  of  killing  it.  They  buy  pork 
and  fowls  which  have  been  killed  and  dressed 
by  the  Chinese.  They  also  eat  animals  which 
have  died.  When  warned  that  perhaps  the 
animal  died  of  some  bad  disease  which  may 
prove  injurious  to  them,  they  will  answer  that 
it  can’t  stand  the  fire;  if  there  is  anything  of 
the  kind,  it  will  depart  when  the  meat  comes  in 
contact  with  the  fire.  They  also  live  largely  on 
vegetables  and  hot  peppers.  The  rice  is  boiled, 
and  dished  out  into  a large  basin  or  platter,  and 
placed  on  the  floor.  The  meats  and  vegetables 
which  have  all  been  cut  up  fine  before  cooking, 
are  also  dished  out  into  small  bowls  and  placed 
near  the  rice.  Those  about  to  eat  seat  them- 
selves around,  tailor  fashion,  in  a circle,  each 
with  a bowl  in  his  hand.  He  takes  some  rice 
from  the  large  dish  into  his  own  bowl,  and  then 
uses  his  fingers  dexterously.  When  he  wishes 
any  of  the  accompaniments  he  dips  his  fingers 
into  the  common  dish.  When  there  is  any- 
thing like  soup  or  gravy,  they  have  a common 
spoon,  and  each  one  takes  a spoonful  into  his 


100 


SIAM. 


mouth,  and  then  passes  the  spoon  to  his  neigh- 
bor, and  it  thus  goes  around.  They  eat  with 
apparent  ease  and  enjoyment,  rolling  up  a ball 
of  rice  in  the  fingers,  then  throwing  the  head  a 
little  back,  and  the  mouth  wide  open,  it  disap- 
pears without  difficulty.  They  have  never  at- 
tempted to  improve  upon  the  fingers.  The 
Chinese  invented  the  chop-sticks,  and  are  ap- 
parently well  pleased  with  the  result,  for  they 
never  attempt  to  improve  upon  them;  but  any 
one  who  has  ever  seen  a Chinaman  slabbering 
and  blowing  over  his  bowl  of  rice,  with  a pair 
of  chop-sticks,  could  not  but  wish  to  see  him 
back  again  at  the  more  primitive  fingers.  The 
Siamese  think  we  eat  with  difficulty,  and  rather 
pity  us  for  having  so  much  ceremony.  A mis- 
sionary and  his  wife  were  out  on  a mission  tour, 
and  came  to  a village  not  frequented  by  Euro- 
peans. They  stopped  at  the  village  and  par- 
took of  a meal.  They  of  course  had  a table, 
and  table  implements  with  them  on  their  boat. 
The  natives  flocked  around  to  see  the  foreigners 
eat,  and  one  old  woman,  after  watching  eagerly 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


101 


for  a time,  turned  away  •with,  a sigh,  remark- 
ing, “ Kow  kin  yak  tedio,”  they  eat  with  great 
difficulty. 

Some  of  the  princes  and  nobles  have  secured 
table  furniture,  and  can  imitate  European  style 
very  nicely,  and  some  of  their  dinners  given 
to  European  officials  are  quite ‘creditable;  but 
when  alone,  they  go  back  again  to  their  own 
mode. 

They  have  their  own  ideas  of  politeness  in 
their  social  intercourse,  and  are  very  strict  in 
carrying  them  out;  but  in  their  intercourse 
with  foreigners  they  frequently  try  to  imitate 
our  customs,  and  as  a general  thing  spoil  both. 
When  a man  meets  a superior,  he  either  pros- 
trates himself  on  the  ground,  or  squats  down, 
places  the  palms  of  his  hands  together,  and 
raises  them  up  to  the  face.  When  equals  meet 
they  do  not  say  “ Good  morning,”  as  we  would 
do,  but  “Pai  nai,” — where  are  you  going.  The 
other  will  give  an  evasive  answer,  saying, 
“ 0,  I am  not  going  anywhere,  only  up  here  a 
little  ways.” 


102 


SIAM. 


Their  household  furniture  is  generally  mea- 
gre, consisting  only  of  a few  cooking  utensils, 
and  mats  and  moscheto  bars  for  sleeping. 
There  was  a while  that  some  of  the  higher 
classes  manifested  a desire  for  European  furni- 
ture, and  bought  it  up  very  readily,  but  per- 
haps on  account  of  a nod  from  high  quarters, 
there  appears  to  be  a reaction  in  that  quarter. 

The  people  are  generally  indolent,  and  lazy, 
and  very  much  addicted  to  gambling,  which  is, 
perhaps,  the  ruling  vice  of  the  country.  At 
every  gambling  house  groups  of  men  and 
women  may  be  seen  sitting  from  morning  till 
night,  and  from  night  till  morning,  intently 
gambling.  They  will  gamble  away  everything 
they  have,  and  incur  large  debts;  and  then  sell 
their  wives,  children,  and  even  themselves  into 
slavery,  to  pay  their  “ debts  of  honor.”  They 
have  different  kinds  of  games,  but  that  on 
which  they  stake  most  is  a Chinese  game  called 
po,  and  is  a kind  of  dice. 

They  are  exceedingly  fond  of  theatricals,  and 
every  prince  and  nobleman,  who  can  afford  it, 


MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 


103 


has  a theatre  of  his  own.  No  festival  of  any 
kind  can  be  held  without  theatricals.  Their 
plays  are  generally  some  fictitious  love  tale,  or 
history,  and  some  of  the  actions  of  the  actresses 
are  most  lascivious  and  vulgar,  but  perhaps  not 
more  so  than  the  exhibitions  of  the  stage  in 
Europe  and  America  to-day. 

They  are  also  very  fond  of  bathing,  which  is 
perhaps  very  conducive  to  health  in  that  cli- 
mate. They  bathe  regularly  at  least  three  times 
a day.  They  always  carry  a cloth  with  them 
for  bathing  purposes.  Both  sexes  meet  to- 
gether at  the  common  bathing  place,  and  they 
slip  off  the  regular  cloth  and  don  the  bathing 
cloth  so  dexterously  that  nothing  amiss  can  be 
noticed  in  the  transaction,  and  then  plunge  into 
the  river,  both  sexes  being  expert  swimmers. 
Notwithstanding  their  frequent  ablutions,  how- 
ever, cleanliness  is  by  no  means  a national 
virtue,  and  some  of  their  habits  are  extremely 
filthy. 

There  are  some  things  in  which  “Young 
America”  might  well  pattern  after  the  Siamese. 


104 


SIAM. 


One  is  extreme  reverence  and  respect  for  age. 
The  aged  receive  that  reverence  justly  due  to 
them  in  Siam,  perhaps  more  than  in  any  other 
country.  Another  is  love  and  reverence  for 
parents.  The  parent  may  sell  a child  into 
slavery,  which  is  frequently  done,  still  when 
the  child  grows  up,  he  never  loses  respect  for 
that  parent.  "When  a child  too,  commits  a 
crime,  and  tries  to  evade  the  law,  the  authori- 
ties at  once  lay  hold  upon  the  parents,  which  is 
sure  to  bring  the  culprit  back  to  give  himself  up. 

Although  the  Chinese  have  more  natural  sta- 
bility of  character  than  the  Siamese,  and  are  in 
many  other  respects  superior  to  them,  still  the 
latter  are  in  many  respects  the  more  hopeful 
people.  A Chinaman  knows  everything,  in  his 
own  estimation  already,  and  is  unwilling  to  learn 
from  any  one;  whilst  the  Siamese  will  pick 
up  all  the  information  they  can  from  others. 
Whatever  they  can  get  of  European  arts  and 
sciences,  without  acknowledging  the  authority, 
and  especially  without  costing  them  anything, 
they  have  no  scruples  about  receiving. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 

^ T has  long  been  the  custom  amongst  the 
a Siamese  to  ascribe  honor  and  glory  to 
j their  princes  and  lords,  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  wives  they  have,  and  can  main- 
tain. 

The  king  has  generally  one  whom  he  consti- 
tutes his  Queen  Consort.  A young  princess  of 
the  highest  rank  that  can  be  found  in  the  king- 
dom is  selected.  She  however  is  not  certain  of 
promotion  until  after  she  has  lived  with  .the 
king  for  a time,  and  has  succeeded  in  gaining  a 
large  place  in  the  royal  affections.  When  this 
is  sufficiently  accomplished,  the  king  appoints  a 
day  for  her  exaltation.  Three  days  are  usually 
devoted  to  the  purpose.  The  chief  officers  of 
7 


106 


SIAM. 


the  palace,  the  chief  scribes,  and  the  chief 
princes  and  nobles  of  the  kingdom  are  present. 
The  principal  ceremonies  devolve  upon  the 
priests,  of  whom  there  are  quite  a number  pre- 
sent, both  Budhist  and  Brahmin.  The  princess 
is  copiously  bathed  in  pure  water,  in  which  the 
leaves  of  a certain  kind  of  tree,  supposed  to 
possess  purifying  and  healthful  influences,  are 
put.  Most  of  the  time  is  spent  in  feasting,  but 
on  the  third  day  she  is  placed  on  a small  throne 
under  a white  canopy,  where  she  is  bathed  with 
holy  water,  the  priests  reciting  prayers  the 
while.  She  is  then  conducted  to  a place  where 
the  wet  clothes  are  laid  aside,  and  she  is  arrayed 
in  queenly  costume,  jewels,  and  diamonds,  and 
then  displays  herself  to  those  in  attendance. 
Instances  have  occurred  when  the  king  had  two 
Queen  Consorts.  In  such  cases  one  is  called 
the  queen  of  the  right  hand,  and  the  other  the 
queen  of  the  left  hand. 

It  has  only  happened  about  twice  in  Siamese 
history,  that  the  king  has  taken  a foreign  prin- 
cess for  his  Queen  Consort.  This  can  happen  in 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


107 


one  of  two  ways.  The  foreign  prince  wishing  to 
secure  the  friendship  and  alliance  of  the  king 
of  Siam,  makes  the  first  advance,  offering  his 
daughter  to  the  king  of  Siam.  If,  after  having 
received  testimonials  of  her  beauty  and  worth, 
the  king  is  favorably  disposed,  he  sends  an 
embassy  to  formally  ask  her  of  the  father.  The 
other  way  is,  that  the  king  of  Siam  is  the  first 
mover  in  the  matter,  and  makes  the  first  over- 
tures. 

In  addition  to  his  Queen  Consort  the  king 
can  have  as  many  inferior  wives,  or  concubines, 
as  he  wishes.  These  are  called  “ Nang -ham,” 
literally,  a woman  forbidden — that  is  forbidden 
to  go  out  of  the  palace.  Although  women  as  a 
general  thing  in  Siam  are  not  in  any  way  seclu- 
ded, still  these  inferior  wives  are  rigidly  con- 
fined within  the  palace  walls.  During  the  late 
reign  however,  much  more  laxity  in  this  respect 
was  displayed,  than  in  any  former  reign.  They 
cannot  go  outside  of  the  palace  walls  without  a 
royal  permit,  and  that  only  on  special  and 
extraordinary  occasions.  The  king  seldom  seeks 


108 


SIAM. 


an  inferior  wife,  but  they  are  presented  to  him 
by  princes  and  nobles  wishing  to  gain  the  royal 
favor,  and  thus  they  consign  their  daughters  to 
a life.oftentimes  worse  than  exile  for  that  pur- 
pose. It  is  said  that  the  late  king  never  left 
home  but  he  returned  with  some  new  accessions 
to  his  harem,  and  that  they  became  so  nume- 
rous that  he  oftentimes  had  to  refuse  them. 

The  better  classes  amongst  them  procure 
wives  something  after  the  following  manner. 
There  is  nothing  like  courting  amongst  the 
young  folks,  as  we  understand  that  term,  un- 
less it  is  done  by  stealth,  which  is  almost 
impossible,  from  the  fact  that  the  mothers 
exercise  the  strictest  vigilance  over  their  un- 
married daughters.  In  this  respect  American 
mothers  might  often  profit  by  the  example  of 
these  heathen.  Girls  become  wives  there  at 
the  early  age  of  fourteen,  and  an  old  maid 
is  quite  a curiosity. 

Although  young  men  in  search  of  wives  are 
not  allowed  the  privilege  of  courting,  still  they 
keep  1 heir  eyes  open,  and  when  one  sees  a 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


109 


young  lady  he  fancies,  he  takes  the  proper 
steps  to  secure  her.  He  makes  the  matter 
known  to  his  parents,  if  he  has  any;  they  em- 
ploy an  elderly  lady  who  is  denominated  a 
“Maa  su”,  and  who  is  acquainted  with  and 
respected  by  the  young  lady’s  parents.  This 
“ Maa  su”  goe3  to  the  house  of  the  young 
lady’s  parents,  and  by  a series  of  nice  insin- 
uations, or  otherwise,  finds  out  how  such  a 
match  would  take,  and  returns  to  report  pro- 
gress. If  indications  are  favorable,  the  par- 
ents of  the  young  man  then  select  a number 
of  elderly  persons  of  both  sexes,  who  are  re- 
spectable, and  intimate  with  both  families. 
These  they  invite  to  their  house,  and  hold  a 
consultation,  and  after  the  matter  is  thor- 
oughly discussed  and  the  match  decided  to 
be  a favorable  one,  a propitious  day  is  chosen, 
and  the  elderly  persons  repair  to  the  house  of 
the  young  lady’s  parents.  These  of  course 
divining  their  object,  receive  them  kindly,  and 
according  to  custom,  set  out  the  tray  contain- 
ing areca  nut,  seri  leaf,  red  lime,  and  tobacco 


no 


SIAM. 


for  chewing.  This  ceremony  over,  the  elders 
broach  the  subject  of  their  mission,  taking  good 
care  to  address  the  parents  according  to  their 
rank,  as  one  improperly  used  pronoun  might 
spoil  the  whole.  If  it  is  proper  to  say  you , 
they  say  it,  and  if  it  is  proper  to  say  your 
honors,  or  your  graces,  they  say  that. 

“Such  parents  having  ascertained  that  this 
is  a propitious  day,  have  commissioned  us  to 
come  and  confer  with  you  concerning  their 
son  of  such  a name,  who  has  as  yet  no 
wife.  His  parents  having  put  the  question 
to  him,  ‘Have  you  any  one  in  your  mind, 
you  would  like  to  have  become  your  wife, 
and  to  whom  you  could  trust  your  life  in 
sickness,  and  your  obsequies  after  death?' 
The  young  man  answered,  that  he  had  your 
daughter  of  such  a name,  and  her  only. 
The  parents  have  therefore  commissioned  us 
to  visit  you  the  much  respected  parents  of 
the  young  lady,  and  confer  with  you  in 
reference  to  this  matter.  What  do  you  the 
parents  say  ?” 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


Ill 


The  parents  reply : “ Our  daughter  is  one 
we  love  much,  and  the  young  man  is  one 
whom  his  parents  love  much.  We  have  an 
ancient  proverb  which  says,  ‘Move  slowly 
and  you  will  gain  your  object,  and  a pro- 
longed effort  generally  results  favorably.’ 
We  will  consult  our  relatives  on  the  right 
hand,  and  on  the  left,  and  see  what  they 
say  about  it.  Please  call  again.” 

After  waiting  a reasonable  time  and  another 
propitious  day  has  come,  the  elders  call  again. 
The  parents  of  the  young  lady  will  say : 
“We  have  consulted  our  relatives,  and  they 
are  unanimously  of  the  opinion  that  if  the 
young  man  really  loves  our  daughter,  and 
can  confide  in  her  as  a proper  person  to 
take  care  of  him  in  sickness,  and  take  charge 
of  his  body  after  death,  his  affections  and 
confidence  should  be  planted.”  “ But  how  is 
it  in  regard  to  the  ages,  and  birthdays  of 
the  parties?  Are  they  such  as  to  be  suit- 
able to  each  other?”  The  Siamese  have  a 
superstition  that  persons  born  in  certain 


112 


SIAM. 


years,  are  incompatible  with  each  other. 
For  instance,  if  one  was  born  in  the  year 
of  the  dog,  and  the  other  in  the  year  of 
the  rat,  or  one  in  the  year  of  the  cow,  and 
the  other  in  the  year  of  the  tiger,  they 
would  be  incompatible  with  each  other.  The 
matter  is  accordingly  referred  to  some  for- 
tune-teller, who,  for  a small  fee,  generally 
pronounces  no  serious  difficulty  in  the  way. 

This  difficulty  cleared  up,  the  elders  call 
for  a further  discussion  of  the  preliminaries. 
They  say: — “Since  birth-days  do  not  inter- 
fere, what  shall  be  said  about  the  mutual 
stock  for  the  young  couple  to  commence 
business  on,  and  the  money  for  building  a 
house  for  the  young  couple?”  According  to 
Siamese  custom  the  bridegroom  almost  inva- 
riably goes  to  live  with  the  parents  of  the 
bride,  and  accordingly  puts  up  a house  on 
their  premises,  and  as  near  the  old  mansion 
as  possible.  Thus  a man  who  has  a number 
of  daughters,  finds  himself  surrounded  by  a 
village,  by  the  time  they  are  all  married  off. 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


113 


The  parents  of  the  young  lady  will  answer, 
“We  are  by  no  means  affluent,  that  we  could 
devote  much  money  to  that  purpose.  But 
allow  us  to  ask,  how  wiil  it  be  with  the  par- 
ents of  the  young  man — how  much  will  they’ 
be  willing  to  give  their  son?”  The  others 
will  reply,  “It  depends  altogether  on  the 
parents  of  the  young  lady.”  The  other  party 
will  reply,  “ If  such  be  the  case,  we  would 
suggest  that  they  appropriate,  say  one  hun- 
dred i ticals  ($60),  for  the  purpose  of  building 
a house;  and  for  mutual  trade  five  hundred 
ticals,  and  that  they  also  contribute  areca  nut, 
seri  leaf,  red  lime,  cakes,  &c.,  for  wedding  pur- 
poses, say  one  hundred  salvers  or  dishes.” 
The  plan  of  the  new  house,  and  the  number 
of  rooms  are  generally  also  specified.  The 
elders  then  return  and  report  to  the  parents 
of  the  young  man,  and  if  they  are  satisfied, 
a bargain  is  struck. 

All  preliminaries  having  been  made,  the 
young  man  goes  to  work  to  build  his  house, 
which  generally  requires  but  a short  time, 


114 


SIAM. 


and  the  parents  of  the  young  lady  do  not 
delay  to  consult  astrologers  in  reference  to 
a propitious  day  for  the  wedding.  The  day 
having  been  fixed,  and  all  things  arranged, 
the  friends  of  both  parties  are  invited  to 
assist  in  carrying  out  the  arrangements.  The 
parents  of  both  parties  unite  in  selecting 
some  elderly  persons,  who  shall  be  the  bear- 
ers of  the  money,  together  with  two  suits 
of  white  raiment,  an  offering  to  the  bride’s 
parents,  and  the  wedding  cakes,  &c.  This 
is  done  in  procession,  either  in  boats  on  the 
river,  or  by  land,  with  bands  of  music  play- 
ing wedding  airs.  The  money  and  presents 
are  given  over  to  the  bride’s  parents,  and 
they  in  turn  bring  out  their  portion  of  the 
money,  and  perhaps, a slave  or  two,  to  assist 
the  young  bride  in  performing  her  house- 
hold duties.  The  guests  being  all  assem- 
bled, the  money  and  presents  are  all  exhib- 
ited. The  elders  then  count  the  money  of 
both  parties,  as  legal  witnesses.  Both  sums 
are  thrown  together,  and  sprinkled  over  with 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


115 


a little  rice,  scented  oil,  flowers,  &c.,  sym- 
bolical of  blessings  craved  on  the  young 
couple.  The  joint  stock  is  then  delivered 

over  to  the  parents  of  the  bride  for  safe 
keeping. 

Some  time  is  then  spent  in  feasting  and 
mutual  conversation,  and  priests  are  chanting 
prayers  the  while.  The  bridegroom  then, 
in  company . with  some  of  his  young  friends, 
goes  to  his  new  house. 

The  bride  at  the  same  time  dispatches  a 
lad  neatly  dressed,  bearing  a tray  of  areca 
nut,  who  meets  them  there,  and  invites  them 
to  be  seated  and  enjoy  themselves.  She  also 
decks  herself  in  gay  apparel,  and  in  company 
with  some  of  her  attendants  repairs  to  the 
same  building,  but  the  two  parties  are  still 
separated  by  a screen.  Religious  services  are 
then  held,  after  which  the  screen  is  withdrawn 
and  the  elders  proceed  to  bathe  the  young 
couple  copiously  with  holy  water.  The  chief 
elder  pours  it  first  upon  the  head  of  the  bride- 
groom, and  then  upon  the  head  of  the  bride, 


116 


SIAM. 


pronouncing  a blessing  upon  each.  The 
attendants  of  the  bride  then  assist  her  in 
changing  her  wet  apparel  for  dry,  but  still, 
if  anything,  more  gay  than  the  former.  A 
finely  dressed  lad  then  appears  with  a silver 
plated  tray,  containing  a handsome  suit  for 
the  bridegroom,  being  a present  from  the 
bride’s  parents,  in  which  he  speedily  attires 
himself.  Whilst  these  things  are  going  on 
the  priests  are  rehearsing  prayers  for  the 
benefit  of  the  young  couple.  All  are  then 
invited  to  a feast  prepared  by  the  bride’s 
parents,  and  when  this  is  over  the  guests 
all  return  to  their  homes.  The  bride  stays 
with  her  parents,  but  the  bridegroom  goes 
to  his  new  house,  where  he  has  secured  a 
band  of  music,  and  serenades  the  bride  until 
a late  hour.  Early  next  morning  the  guests 
all  assemble,  and  have  a feast  for  the  priests 
in  which  all  vie  with  each  other  in  their 
attentions  to  the  clergy.  They  then  have 
another  feast  for  themselves.  If  this  is  a 
propitious  day  the  ceremonies  are  closed  in 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


117 


the  evening.  A respectable  couple,  friends 
of  the  bride,  who  are  naan  and  wife,  and 
who  themselves  have  been  blessed  with  a 
large  family  of  children,  are  selected,  and 
they  then  repair  to  the  new  house  and  pre- 
pare the  bridal  bed.  About  9 o’clock  in 
the  evening  the  elders  conduct  the  bride  to 
her  new  home,  and  after  some  counsels  and 
exhortations,  the  young  couple  are  left  alone 
perhaps  for  the  first  time.  Oftentimes  how- 
ever, if  the  second  day  is  unpropitious,  the 
ceremonies  are  continued  until  the  third  or 
fourth  day. 

After  a few  days  have  elapsed  the  bride- 
groom conducts  his  bride  to  visit  his  parents. 
She  takes  with  her  a few  presents  of  cakes 
and  fruit,  and  upon  entering  the  house  pros- 
trates herself  three  times  to  the  floor,  and  is 
then  taken  into  the  embrace  and  confidence 
of  the  family.  The  bridegroom  also  pays  a 
formal  visit  to  the  bride’s  parents,  and  pros- 
trates himself  before  them. 

After  the  birth  of  the  first  child  the  joint 


118 


SIAM. 


stock  of  money  is  produced,  and  the  young 
couple  enter  into  business  for  themselves,  as 
they  are  supposed  to  have  lived  off  the 
bride’s  parents  up  to  this  time.  There  are 
three  things  which  are  considered  absolutely 
essential  in  these  wedding  ceremonies.  These 
are  'three  metallic  platters,  one  containing  a 
kind  of  sweet  cakes  called  “ Kanome  chcen”, 
or  Chinese  cakes;  another  contains  a kind 
of  mince-meat,  highly  seasoned,  and  much 
prized;  and  the  third  contains  areca  nut, 
seri  leaf,  red  lime,  and  tobacco  for  chewing 
purposes.  These  articles  constitute  what  is 
called  the  “Kan  male',  literally  the  areca- 
nut  tray,  but  which  has  become  one  of  their 
names  for  a weddinsr. 

O 

Marriage  amongst  them  appears  to  be  little 
more  than  a civil  contract,  in  which  the  bride 
has  but  little  choice,  but  yields  implicit  obedi- 
ence to  the  will  of  the  parents. 

If  a young  man  attempts  to  pay  his  addresses 
to  a young  lady  without  going  through  the 
proper  channel,  he  is  supposed  to  be  doing 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


119 


so  from  improper  motives,  and  stands  a chance 
to  get  himself  chastised  by  some  male  mem- 
ber of  the  family.  We  had  once  in  our 
school  a young  man,  who  was  rather  fancy, 
and  who  attempted  to  address  a young  lady 
in  the  neighborhood,  without  taking  the  proper 
steps.  One  evening  two  of  the  young  lady’s 
brothers'  met  him,  and  administered  to  him 
a sound  thrashing. 

A man  in  Siam  possesses  the  prerogative 
of  administering  to  his  wife  a little  whole- 
some chastisement,  if  she  fails  to  fulfil  her 
duties.  I have  seen  a few  instances  in 
which  I really  thought  it  was  deserved,  and 
did  good,  but  as  a Christian  missionary,  and 
a representative  of  the  free  United  States, 
where  women  are  clamoring  for  the  same 
rights  as  men,  I had  to  discourage  such 
things  under  all  circumstances. 

Polygamy  is  not  common  amongst  the 
middle  and  lower  classes,  simply  on  account 
of  their  inability  to  maintain  more  than  one 
wife,  but  divorce  is  very  easy,  being  only 


120 


SIAM. 


a dissolving  of  tlie  civil  contract  by  tbe 
mutual  consent  of  the  parties,  and  then  each 
party  is  at  liberty  to  marry  again.  There 
are  however,  many  happy  marriages  in  Siam, 
and  I have  seen  old  people  of  seventy,  who 
had  spent  a long  life  together  and  raised 
large  families. 

Notwithstanding  tbe  vigilance  of  the  mo- 
thers, there  is  occasionally  a runaway  match. 
In  such  cases  however,  they  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble take  all  proper  steps  to  propitiate  the 
parents.  They  select  respectable  persons,  and 
send  them  with  presents  to  the  parents,  and, 
as  a general  thing,  like  runaway  matches 
everywhere;  after  a short  time  every  thing 
is  smoothed  over  satisfactorily.  I had  in 
my  employ  a young  man  who  was  an  orphan. 
He  became  enamored  with  a young  lady  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  through  his  friends 
secured  the  consent  of  her  parents,  but  as 
he  was  poor,  the  wedding  was  to  be  post- 
poned a year.  In  the  mean  time,  a well- 
to-do  Chinaman,  who  had  considerable  money 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE. 


121 


at  his  command,  came  along  and  proposed. 
The  parents  consented,  notwithstanding  the 
former  contract,  and  went  on  to  make  ar- 
rangements for  the  wedding,  without  telling 
the  daughter  anything  about  it.  A few  days 
before  the  wedding  was  to  come  off,  she 
got  wind  of  what  was  going  on,  and  that 
night  ran  away  and  came  down  to  our 
place,  to  hunt  up  her  other  lover.  In  the 
morning  he  came  to  me  in  great  trepida- 
tion, but  unwilling  to  give  up  his  prize. 
I rather  felt  for  the  young  folks,  and  se- 
' lected  some  of  the  most  honorable  persons 
in  the  neighborhood,  and  sent  them  up  to 
the  parents,  but  they  were  inexorable.  I 
then  sent  for  them  to  come  down  to  our 
place,  which  they  did  through  respect  for 
me,  but  would  still  do  nothing,  and  threat- 
ened to  go  to  law;  but  I told  them  I 
would  defend  the  young  man  in  his  just 
rights  to  the  last.  After  a few  days  how- 
ever, all  was  quieted  down,  and  the  matter 
8 


122 


SIAM. 


smoothed  over  amicably.  A faithful  crea- 
ture she  also  proved  to  be.  She  worked  and 
kept  up  the  house,  and  all  the  expenses, 
whilst  he  worked  to  pay  me  a tolerably  large 
debt,  for  money  which  I advanced  him  on  the 
occasion. 

The  nobility  have  all  a plurality  of  wives, 
in  proportion  to  their  means  and  rank.  The 
first  one  taken,  is  head  or  mistress  over  the 
others,  and  the  whole  get  aloDg  as  harmo- 
niously together  as  such  an  arrangement  could 
be  expected  to  do,  and  much  more  so  than 
the  same  arrangement  would  do  with  us.  A 
nobleman  is  rather  to  be  envied  than  other- 
wise on  his  return  home,  as  he  receives  so 
many  delicate  attentions  from  his  numerous 
wives,  who  all  vie  with  each  other  in  meriting 
a liberal  share  of  the  divided  affections  of 
their  lord.  Woman  knows  her  place  in  Siam, 
and  there  are  no  such  unfrocked  specimens 
of  the  sex  there,  as  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 
Lucretia  Mott,  and  others.  Polygamy  is 


COURTSHIP  AND  MARRIAGE.  123 

however,  one  of  the  curses  of  the  land,  and 
one  of  the  great  barriers  to  the  introduction  of 
the  gospel.  It  is  one  of  those  mountains  which 
the  power  of  the  gospel  must  eventually  bring 
low.  The  day  is  coming  when  it  must  be 
abolished  even  in  Siam. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DYING  AND  DEAD. 

HE  Siamese  dispose  of  their  dead  by  cre- 
mation. When  a prince  of  rank  is  found 
to  be  near  death,  the  relatives  suspend 
every  other  care,  and  assist  in  giving  the  de- 
parting spirit  as  good  a passport  as  possible 
into  the  spirit  land.  Every  effort  is  made  to 
fix  the  thoughts  of  the  dying  man  on  Budha. 
They  take  their  turns  in  calling  out  as  loudly, 
and  distinctly  as  possible,  “ JPra  Arahang,”  one 
of  the  names  of  Budha.  It  is  uttered  as  much 
as  eight  times  in  a minute,  so  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  hear  anything  else.  This  seems  to  be 
the  “Extreme  Unction”  of  the  Budhist.  When 
all  evidence  of  the  dying  man’s  hearing  is  past, 
the  attendant  friends  will  raise  their  voices  to 


«/ 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


125 


a stunning  pitch,  hoping  that  the  departing 
spirit  may  still  hear  Pra  Arahang.  After  it  is 
thought  Pra  Arahang  can  be  no  longer  heard, 
the  most  uncontrollable  wailing  is  commenced, 
which  can  be  heard  to  a great  distance.  The 
friends  of  the  deceased,  household  slaves,  aud 
all,  engage  in  this  outburst  of  grief. 

When  a prince  of  high  rank  has  died,  the 
King  visits  the  house  of  mourning  and  bathes 
the  corpse  with  wrater,  with  his  own  hands. 
After  him  other  princes  present  come  forward, 
and  pour  a dipper  of  water  upon  the  corpse. 
Next  comes  the  nobles  who  are  present,  accord- 
ing to  their  rank,  and  do  the  same.  When  all 
the  princes  and  nobles  present  have  performed 
this  office,  certain  officials  present  proceed  to 
dress  the  corpse.  They  put  on  it  a pair  of 
tight-fitting  pantaloons,  and  a tight  jacket. 
Over  these  they  apply  a winding-sheet,  wrap- 
ping it  as  tightly  as  possible.  Quicksilver  is 
also  poured  down  the  throat.  The  corpse  is 
then  placed  in  a copper  urn,  in  a sitting  pos- 
ture. This  copper  urn  is  then  placed  inside  of 


126 


SIAM. 


a golden  urn.  The  inner  urn  has  a grating  at 
the  bottom,  and  the  outer  one  has  a stop-cock, 
by  which  the  juices  flowing  from  the  body  are 
daily  drawn  off,  until  it  becomes  perfectly  dry. 
The  King  usually  remains  until  the  corpse  has 
been  placed  in  the  urn,  and  that  placed  on  an 
elevated  platform,  ascending^  by  three  grada- 
tions to  the  height  of  about  five  feet.  Whilst 
the  corpse  is  being  thus  elevated,  conch-shell 
blowers  and  trumpeters  are  performing  lustily 
upon  their  instruments,  with  all  the  harmony 
possible.  This  trumpeting  is  called  the  in- 
viting of  the  corpse  to  be  seated  on  the  plat- 
form. 

When  thus  seated,  all  the  insignia  of  royalty 
to  which  the  prince  has  been  accustomed  during 
life  are  brought  and  arranged  in  order  at  the 
foot  of  the  urn.  These  consist  of  his  golden 
areca  nut  box,  his  golden  cigar  case,  his  golden 
spittoon,  his  writing  apparatus — in  short,  all 
the  utensils  which  he  was  accustomed  to  use  in 
daily  life.  The  band  of  trumpeters  come  at 
early  dawn,  at  noon,  and  at  dusk,  every  day,  to 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


127 


perform  the  funeral  dirge.  They  come  in  con- 
cert with  some  wailing  women,  who  chant  the 
virtues  and  excellences  of  the  deceased.  These 
women  spend  an  hour  each  day  in  that  service, 
and  in  the  intervals  a company  of  priests, 
seated  upon  a platform  near  by  the  urn,  chant 
incantations,  and  recite  moral  lessons  in  the 
Pali  language.  These  services  are  kept  up 
daily  until  the  time  appointed  for  burning  has 
arrived,  which  is  six,  and  sometimes  even  eight 
months  after  death.  The  remains  of  a king 
generally  lie  in  state  about  twelve  months,  be- 
fore burning. 

Upon  the  death  of  a king  his  successor  com- 
mences at  once  to  make  arrangements  for  erect- 
ing the  temporary  building  for  his  cremation, 
which  is  called  a Pra  mane.  The  building  is 
generally  in  size  and  grandeur  proportionate 
to  the  estimation  in  which  the  deceased  has 
been  held.  Royal  orders  are  sent  to  all  the 
provinces,  and  even  to  the  tributary  States, 
where  large  timber  grows,  requiring  them  to 
furnish  posts  for  the  Pra  mane,  and  especially 


128 


SIAM. 


four  enormous  sticks,  winch  are  to  form  the 
central  pillars  of  the  building.  These  central 
pillars  must  be  of  the  finest  timber  that  can  be 
found,  very  straight,  and  from  two  hundred  to 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long.  Besides  the 
large  ones,  twelve  other  pillars  of  smaller  size 
are  needed.  Timbers  which  have  been  used  on 
a former  occasion  cannot  be  used  again,  but  all 
must  be  new.  The  large  pillars  are  cut  in  the 
forest,  dragged  to  the  river  by  elephants,  and 
floated  down  at  high  wTater  to  the  capital. 
When  they  arrive  at  the  city,  a general  levy  is 
made  all  over  the  country  for  workmen,  and 
those  huge  logs  are  dragged  up  to  the  place 
mainly  by  force,  as  it  would  be  contrary  to 
custom  to  employ  any  labor-saving  machine  in 
getting  them  up.  They  are  first  dressed  off1, 
and  then  planted  wfith  great  difficulty  in  the 
ground  about  thirty  feet  deep.  The  four  large 
pillars  are  planted  in  a square,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  feet  in  circumference.  When 
planted,  the  tops  incline  a little  toward  each 
other,  forming  a kind  of  truncated  pyramid, 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


129 


having  four  sides,  and  is  about  two  hundred 
feet  high.  On  the  top  of  these  pillars  is  erected 
a pagoda-shaped  spire,  adding  about  fifty  feet 
more  to  the  height.  The  spire  is  covered  with 
gilded  and  tinselled  paper,  so  as  to  give  it  a 
neat  and  grand  appearance,  especially  from  a 
distance.  At  each  side  of  this  central  pyramid 
is  erected  a wing,  by  means  of  other  smaller 
posts,  and  extending  about  forty  feet,  and  facing 
the  four  cardinal  points  of  the  compass;  and 
each  wing  is  also  capped  with  a pagoda  spire. 
The  whole  is  covered  with  a basket-work  made 
of  bamboo  splits,  which  is  covered  again  with 
gilt  and  tinselled  paper.  The  building  is  sur- 
rounded by  a bamboo  fence,  enclosing,  perhaps, 
two  acres  of  ground,  and  entered  by  two  large 
gates.  Inside  of  the  fence  are  numerous  tem- 
porary buildings,  made  of  bamboo,  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  priests,  theatrical  performances, 
and  other  exhibitions.  On  the  west  side  of  the 
Pra  mane  is  the  building  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  King  and  his  family.  The  roof  of  this 
building  is  made  of  crimson  cloth,  with  gilt 


130 


SIAM. 


edges,  and  the  sides  are  covered  with  curtains, 
which  in  front  are  tucked  in  neatly  to  the  posts. 
At  each  end,  at  the  comb  of  the  roof,  is  a 
peculiar  shaped  horn  extending  out,  which  is 
peculiar  to  royal  buildings  and  temples. 

The  whole  area  of  the  enclosure  is  covered 
with  a floor  made  of  split  bamboos  neatly  woven 
together.  Immediately  at  the  base  of  the  Pra 
mane  are  small  artificial  mountains,  and  artifi- 
cial lakes,  and  ponds,  upon  which  small  boats 
and  miniature  floating  houses  are  moored.  Also 
flowers,  shrubbery,  and  every  other  thing  ima- 
ginable, which  is  considered  at  all  ornamental. 
On  the  outside  of  the  enclosure  are  houses  built 
for  the  accommodation  of  princes,  nobles,  and 
all  foreigners  who  may  wish  to  attend,  and  who 
are  all  entertained  at  the  royal  expense.  Rope 
dancing,  juggling,  and  every  other  imaginable 
feat  are  also  carried  on  outside.  At  night,  too, 
those  brilliant  fireworks,  in  which  the  Siamese 
so  much  excel,  are  touched  off  by  the  King 
himself,  and  are  kept  up  to  a late  hour  every 
night. 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


131 


Directly  under  the  tall  spire  in  the  centre  of 
the  building  is  erected  what  may  be  termed  the 
Fra  mane  proper.  A floor  is  laid  over  the  whole 
building  about  twenty  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  upon  that  floor,  directly  under  the  tall 
spire,  is  erected  an  octagonal  pyramid,  about 
sixty  feet  in  circumference.  It  diminishes  by 
right  angled  gradations,  to  the  height  of  about 
thirty  feet,  and  terminates  in  a truncated  top, 
and  upon  this  top  is  placed  the  urn  containing 
the  royal  remains.  On  an  appointed  day  the 
royal  remains  are  brought  out  and  placed  upon 
the  Fra  mane.  This  is  done  in  a procession. 
The  governors  of  the  different  provinces,  and 
the  kings  of  the  different  tributary  states  have 
all  been  ordered  to  be  present  at  the  cremation. 
Early  in  the  morning  of  the  day  of  the  proces- 
sion, the  chief  princes,  nobles,  and  rulers,  assem- 
ble at  the  palace.  The  golden  urn,  richly 
decked  with  diamonds,  containing  the  remains, 
is  placed  on  an  elevated  seat,  upon  a huge  and 
unwieldy  car,  drawn  by  two  horses,  assisted  by 
hundreds  of  men.  The  funeral  car  is  preceded 


132 


SIAM. 


in  the  procession  by  two  others.  The  first  is 
occupied  by  the  high-priest  of  the  kingdom 
alone,  reading  as  he  goes  moral  lessons  from 
the  sacred  books,  in  the  Pali  language.  The 
second  car  is  occupied  by  a few  of  the  favorite 
children  of  the  deceased.  A strip  of  silver 
cloth,  about  six  inches  wide,  extends  from  the 
thighs  of  the  high-priest  to  the  seat  occupied 
by  the  children  in  the  next  car,  and  thence  to 
the  funeral  car,  and  is  attached  to  the  urn. 
This  forms  the  mystical  union  between  the 
deceased,  the  sacred  book,  and  his  children. 
The  car  next  behind  the  funeral  car  contains  a 
few  sticks  of  sandal  wood,  with  ends  gilded, 
for  the  purpose  of  burning  the  corpse.  These 
cars  are  all  drawn  by  horses,  assisted  by  scores 
of  men.  There  are  also  in  the  procession  num- 
bers of  other  cars,  containing  figures  of  lions, 
tigers,  elephants,  rhinoceroses,  and  numbers  of 
indescribable  fabulous  animals,  and  upon  the 
backs  of  all  these  animals  are  placed  piles  of 
yellow  cloths,  to  be  presented  to  the  priests. 
There  are  also  numbers  of  boats  placed  on  small,, 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


133 


wheels  and  drawn  along,  which  are  also  to  be 
presented  to  the  priests.  In  front  and  rear  of 
the  cars  are  hundreds  of  men,  dressed  in 
white,  and  having  white  turbans,  terminating 
in  a pagoda  point,  and  who  represent  the 
Tewedas,  or  Budhist  angels.  When  the  proces- 
sion arrives  at  the  place,  the  urn  is  drawn  up 
an  inclined  plane,  and  placed  upon  the  top  of 
the  truncated  platform  already  described.  The 
piece  of  narrow  silver  cloth,  already  mentioned, 
is  attached  to  the  top  of  the  urn,  and  extends 
to  the  floor,  and  then  out  the  east  and  west 
wings  of  the  building  to  the  steps.  High  above 
the  urn  is  suspended  a neat  golden  canopy,  of 
that  indescribable  form  for  which  the  Siamese 
are  so  celebrated.  Around  and  under  the  can- 
opy are  hung  beautiful  white  scented  flowers, 
arranged  in  the  form  of  a chandelier;  splendid 
chandeliers  are  also  suspended  all  around  for 
the  purpose  of  brilliantly  lighting  up  the  Pra 
mane.  Nearly  all  the  priests  in  the  kingdom 
are  called  into  requisition  on  these  occasions, 
who  chant  prayers  and  recite  moral  lessons. 


134 


SIAM. 


All  the  chief  princes  and  nobles,  the  family 
and  family  servants  of  the  deceased,  are  all 
dressed  in  white,  and  have  their  heads  shaven, 
the  badge  of  mourning.  "When  the  time  has 
come  for  igniting  the  fire  the  outer  golden  urn 
is  removed,  leaving  only  the  inner  copper  urn. 
The  grating  at  the  bottom  of  the  copper  urn  is 
covered  over  with  spices  and  fragant  powders. 
All  valuable  or  precious  articles  are  removed 
from  the  platform.  The  platform  is  also  lowered 
some  feet,  to  make  it  more  convenient.  The 
sandal  wood  is  arranged  under  the  grate  of  the 
urn,  and  precious  spices  and  fragrant  articles 
are  placed  amongst  the  wood.  A gunpowder 
train  is  arranged,  extending  to  the  place  where 
the  king  is.  All  being  ready,  the  king  takes 
electrical  fire,  which  has  been  preserved  in  the 
palace  for  a long  time  for  such  purposes,  and 
ignites  the  fuse,  and  soon  the  wood  is  in  a blaze. 
The  family  of  the  deceased,  and  the  chief  princes 
and  nobles  are  all  standing  near,  with  lighted 
wax  candles  in  their  hands,  and  each  in  turn 
steps  up  and  places  the  candle  amongst  the  wood. 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


135 


Tubs  of  water  are  standing  near,  and  men  with 
dippers  ready  to  prevent  the  flames  from  rising 
too  high,  and  consuming  the  whole  building. 
Many  persons  from  reading  descriptions  of  these 
cremations,  have  got  the  idea  that  the  whole 
building  is  burned,  but  nothing  is  burned  but 
the  sandal  wood  and  the  corpse  which  is  in  the 
urn.  When  the  wood  is  fired  the  band  strikes 
a funeral  dirge,  and  the  women  commence  wail- 
ing, which  generally  lasts  only  a few  minutes. 
When  the  ceremonies  are  all  over  the  Fra  mane 
is  taken  down,  never  to  be  used  again. 

The  corpse  is  generally  burned  on  the  third 
day  of  the  ceremonies,  and  they  are  kept  up  in 
the  same  manner  for  three  days  after  the  burn- 
ing proper,  making  about  six  days  in  all. 
After  the  burning,  the  charred  bones  still 
remaining  are  collected,  put  into  a small  golden 
urn,  and  kept  by  the  family.  The  present  king 
has  the  remains  of  his  ancestors  for  many  gen- 
erations back,  preserved  in  this  manner.  The 
ashes  are  also  collected,  when  a procession  of 


136 


SIAM. 


boats  is  formed,  and  they  are  scattered  upon 
the  river. 

During  these  ceremonies  much  is  given  away 
in  presents,  for  the  purpose  of  making  merit. 
Small  gold  and  silver  coins,  and  gold  rings,  are 
put  into  limes,  and  other  small  fruit,  and  these 
are  scattered  amongst  the  crowd,  and  they 
scramble  for  them.  The  king  amuses  himself 
at  this  kind  of  sport  very  frequently  during  the 
ceremonies.  Other  small  fruits  contain  lottery 
tickets,  which  always  draw  a small  article  of 
some  kind.  These  are  also  given  away.  Out- 
side the  enclosure  are  artificial  trees,  full  of 
limes,  in  every  one  of  which  is  a small  coin.  A 
person  frequently  during  the  ceremonies  ascends 
a platform,  pulls  off  the  limes  and  scatters  them 
amongst  the  crowd,  and  then  such  a scramble 
as  there  will  be.  Persons  frequently  get  hurt 
in  the  scramble,  and  it  is  frequently  muddy, 
and  I have  seen  the  scramblers  all  covered  over 
with  mud.  The  royal  funerals  are  very  expen- 
sive. The  funeral  of  the  late  king  must  have 
cost  at  least  $150,000. 


CEREMONIES  FOR  THE  DEAD. 


137 


The  common  people,  on  account  of  the  ex- 
pense, do  not  keep  their  dead  long,  but  burn 
them  as  soon  as  possible,  but  in  substantially 
the  same  manner.  They  do  not  erect  a Pra 
mane,  but  most  of  the  temple  grounds  have  a 
permanent  Pra  mane.  I have  also  frequently 
seen  them  burning,  out  in  the  open  space, 
without  any  covering.  The  corpse  is  placed 
in  a board  coffin,  covered  over  with  figured 
paper,  and  is  then  taken  to  the  temple  and 
burned.  There  is  a very  disgusting  practice 
more  or  less  common  amongst  them.  Some- 
times the  person  dying  orders  it  to  be  done 
in  order  to  make  merit,  and  sometimes  the 
friends  do  it  of  their  own  accord.  "When  the 
corpse  is  taken  to  the  place  of  burning,  they 
take  knives,  cut  the  flesh  from  the  bones,  and 
feed  it  to  the  vultures.  These  filthy  birds  will 
be  perched  near  by,  and  will  come  down  into 
the  crowd  to  receive  the  coveted  morsel,  which 
they  either  cany  off,  or  swallow  upon  the  spot. 
After  the  flesh  is  thus  taken  off,  the  bones  are 
burned. 

9 


138 


SIAM. 


Persons  dying  of  cholera,  small-pox,  in  child- 
birth, or  any  sudden  disease,  and  by  suicide, 
are  not  burned  immediately,  but  are  buried  for 
a few  months,  and  are  then  taken  up  and 
burned.  Criminals  executed,  and  paupers,  are 
given  to  the  vultures  wholesale.  Medical  stu- 
dents would  have  no  difficulty  in  getting  sub- 
jects there. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THEORY  AND  PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


HEN  we  consider  that  amidst  all  the 
light  which  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 


'jj  teenth  century  sheds  upon  the  subject, 
the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  amongst 
western  nations  are  still  enveloped  in  dark- 
ness, and  are  constantly  changing,  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  a nation  like  the 
Siamese  is  almost  wholly  in  the  dark  upon 
such  a subject.  The  Rev.  D.  B.  Bradly,  M.D., 
the  oldest  missionary  in  Siam,  and  who  for 
many  years  practised  medicine  in  Bangkok,  has' 
prepared  an  abstract  of  the  Siamese  “Theory 
and  Practice  of  Medicine,”  which  was  published 
in  the  Bangkok  Calendar  of  1865,  and  from 


140 


SIAM. 


which  the  abstract  which  I shall  give  at  pre- 
sent is  mainly  taken. 

The  Siamese  believe  the  human  system  to 
be  composed  of  four  elements — water,  air, 
fire,  and  earth,  and  that  disease  is  simply 
a derangement  in  the  proportions  of  these 
elements.  They  believe  also  that  all  nature 
is  constituted  in  the  same  way,  and  that 
the  elements  without,  are  continually  ope- 
rating upon  the  elements  within  the  body, 
producing  health  or  disease.  For  instance, 
if  fire  from  without  enters  the  body  in  undue 
proportions,  it  will  derange  the  healthy  equi- 
librium of  the  same  element  within,  and  will 
produce  one  or  more  of  the  diseases  into 
which  fire  enters,  such  as  fevers,  measles, 
small-pox,  &c.  Each  element  is  supposed 
to  have  its  season  of  influence  to  produce 
disease,  just  as  the  fruits  of  the  earth  have 
their  seasons.  Their  medical  books,  and  com- 
mon parlance,  both  say  that  in  such  and 
such  months,  wind  produces  most  disease, 
and  in  such  and  such  other  months,  fire 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


141 


produces  most,  and  so  with  all  the  other 
elements.  The  internal  elements  are  also 
supposed  at  certain  times  to  become  deranged 
from  causes  wholly  internal.  For  instance, 
one  of  their  theories  in  regard  to  apoplexy 
is,  that  the  internal  wind  blows  from  all 
parts  of  the  body  upon  the  heart,  with  such 
force  that  it  is  often  ruptured,  and  death 
immediately  ensues.  The  other  theory  is, 
that  the  wind  has  fled,  and  left  a vacuum 
in  the  upper  story,  and  it  must  be  forced 
back  again,  if  a cure  is  to  be  effected. 

All  diseases  are  produced  either  from  an 
excess  or  diminution  of  one  or  more  of  the 
four  elements;  and,  according  to  their  theory, 
wind  produces  more  disease  than  any,  or  all 
of  the  other  elements  combined.  If  you  ask 
any  Siamese  what  is  the  matter  with  him, 
in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  he  will  answer, 
“ Pen  lom” — it  is  wind,  or  disease  produced 
by  wind. 

Their  theory  also  teaches  that  all  vital 
motions  of  the  body  are  primarily  produced 


142 


SIAM. 


by  wind  taken  into  the  system  by  inhala- 
tion, as  wind  enters  a bellows,  and  proceeds 
to  the  heart,  and  the  heart  by  its  expan- 
sions, invites  it  into  the  body,  and  then,  by 
its  own  power  it  passes  to  all  parts,  and  is 
the  approximate  cause  of  all  internal  circu- 
lation. 

There  are  two  grand  divisions  of  internal 
wind,  viz.,  that  above,  and  that  below  the 
diaphragm.  Strictures  in  the  chest,  head- 
ache, epilepsy,  and  apoplexy,  are  produced 
by  wind  beating  upward.  Colic,  flatulency, 
inflammation  of  the  bowels,  &c.,  are  caused 
by  wind  from  above  beating  downward. 

It  is  seldom  however,  that  disease  runs  its 
course  without  involving  two  or  more  of  the 
other  elements.  For  instance,  in  case  of  a 
common  boil,  the  wind  first  drives  the  blood 
from  all  quarters  into  the  locality  of  the 
disease,  where  it  stagnates,  being  invested 
by  wind.  Secondly,  the  water  from  the  blood 
consequently  settles  in  that  place,  as  water 
in  a tea-kettle  before  the  fire  is  applied. 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


143 


Thirdly,  the  internal  fire  having  nothing  to 
drive  it  away,  acts  upon  the  water,  and 
heats  it  to  scalding.  And,  fourthly,  the  earth, 
inclusive  of  the  crassiment  of  the  blood,  which 
had  stagnated,  and  other  solid  matter  in 
the  locality,  become  diseased  from  great  heat, 
and  are  consequently  decomposed  and  melted 
down  into  matter.  Anasarca,  or  general  drop- 
sy, belongs  to  the  water-class,  and  is  pro- 
duced by  the  watery  parts  of  the  blood  set- 
tling under  the  skin,  and  among  the  muscles, 
causing  the  parts  to  puff  outward.  But  water 
is  not  the  sole  cause;  there  is  also  a dimi- 
nution of  fire.  If  fire  had  been  present  in 
due  proportions,  it  would  have  dried  up  the 
surplus  water,  as  the  sun  dries  up  the  dew. 

In  the  hot  season,  heat  from  without  com- 
bines with  heat  from  within,  and  produces 
an  unhealthful  degree  of  heat  in  the  body, 
and  causes  disease  of  the  fire-class.  In  the 
rainy  season  too  much  water  is  absorbed 
into  the  system,  filling  intensely  the  natural 
vacuum  in  the  upper  part  of  the  head,  and 


144 


SIAM. 


produces  disease  of  the  water-class.  The 
earth  produces  disease  through  her  mists  and 
vapors.  Cholera  is  supposed  to  arise  from 
this  source.  ‘ 

They  also  believe  that  spirits,  good  and 
evil,  have  great  power  over  the  elements, 
and  have  much  to  do  in  producing  disease. 
They  are  consequently  held  in  continued  dread 
of  them,  and  use  every  means  to  propiti- 
ate them.  They  never  start  on  a journey, 
or  enter  a forest  where  fevers  prevail,  with- 
out first  making  an  offering  to  the  spirits. 

They  believe  that  medicine  has  power  to 
counteract  the  deranged  elements,  and  restore 
them  to  a healthful  equilibrium.  The  origin 
and  practice  of  medicine  they  believe  to  have 
been  supernatural.  Their  medical  books  de- 
clare thet  the  father  of  medicine  was  so 
privileged,  that  wherever  he  went,  every 
individual  member  of  the  vegeto-medical  king- 
dom was  sure  to  summon  his  attention,  and 
speak  out,  revealing  its  name  and  medical 
properties ; and  since  the  days  of  miracles 


PEACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


145 


have  passed  away,  the  science  is  only  now 
to  be  acquired  by  following  closely  the  origi- 
nal medical  books. 

They  have  four  classes  of  medicines,  each 
calculated  to  counteract  the  disturbances  caused 
by  each  of  the  four  elements.  The  modus 
operandi  of  each  individual  class  is  supposed 
to  be  as  various  as  the  specific  diseases.  For 
instance,  medicine  for  wind  in  the  head  is 
quite  different,  and  acts  differently  from  medi- 
cine for  wind  in  the  bowels.  A sternutatory 
snuff,  a wash  for  the  head,  a patch  or  plaster, 
may  dispel  the  wind  in  the  head,  whilst 
it  will  require  a carminative  to  allay  the 
storm  in  the  bowels.  It  is  believed  that 
wind  of  every  kind  may  not  only  be  expelled 
from  the  body  by  way  of  the  esophagus 
and  rectum,  but  also  by  the  pores  of  the 
skin,  and  all  the  secreting  organs  of  the 
body.  It  may  hence  be  drawn  off  by  suc- 
tion; as  cupping,  poultices,  bleeding,  and 
scarification.  They  also  attempt  to  drive  the 
surplus  wind  from  one  part  of  the  body 


146 


SIAM. 


to  another  part  where  it  may  be  wanting. 
If  the  disease  arise  from  a deficiency  of  wind, 
they  try  to  raise  an  artificial  breeze  in  the 
system  by  appropriate  medicines.  Giddiness 
is  supposed  to  arise  from  a deficiency  of 
wind  blowing  upward  upon  the  brain,  and 
the  upper  part  of  the  skull  becomes  a vacuum. 
They  consequently  fill  the  stomach  as  full 
as  possible  with  food,  and  put  the 1 patient  to 
bed,  and  he  will  awake  quite  well.  If  there 
is  a want  of  heat,  they  produce  artificial 
heat;  and  if  there  is  too  much,  they  employ 
a refrigerating  treatment.  If  there  is  too 
much  water,  they  try  to  draw  it  off  by 
drastic  cathartics.  In  all  their  treatment 
they  employ  opposites. 

Their  medicines  are  derived  chiefly  from 
the  vegetable  kingdom,  and  from  those  kinds 
too  which  are  indigenous  to  their  own  country. 
Some  few  articles  are  brought  from  China, 
and  sold  by  the  Chinese  apothecaries.  Barks, 
roots,  leaves,  chips,  fruits,  and  herbs,  consti- 
tute the  great  bulk  of  their  materia  medica. 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


147 


They  also  employ  some  articles  belonging  to 
the  animal  kingdom,  such  as  bones,  teeth, 
sea-shells,  fish-skins,  snake-skin3,  snake’s  galls, 
urine,  birds’  eyes,  &c.  They  have  also  a 
few  from  the  mineral  kingdom,  such  as  stones, 
saltpetre,  borax,  lead,  antimony,  sulphate  of 
copper,  table  salt,  sulphate  of  magnesia,  and 
rarely  mercury.  They  have  a few  gums 
also,  of  which  aloes  and  gamboge  are  the 
chief. 

But  few  articles  of  the  vegetable  kingdom 
^however,  escape  enlistment  in  the  war  against 
disease.  They  depend  more  upon  great  com- 
binations, than  upon  the  power  of  a single 
ingredient,  and  consequently  scores  of  kinds, 
or  ingredients,  often  figure  in  a single  dose. 
Dr.  Bradly  says  he  has  seen  one  instance 
in  which  one  hundred  and  seventy  four  ingre- 
dients were  employed  in  one  prescription, 
and  the  whole  to  be  taken  at  three  dose3. 
The  work  of  preparing  medicines  is  therefore 
onerous.  Vegetable  combinations  are  used 
chiefly  in  a state  of  decoction  or  infusion. 


148 


SIAM. 


They  frequently  speak  of  a patient  having 
taken  four  or  five  pots  full — a pot  holding 
from  two  to  four  quarts.  They  knew  nothing 
of  tinctures  until  European  physicians  came 
amongst  them,  and  they  are  slow  to  adopt 
them. 

After  such  a system,  it  may  readily  be 
supposed  that  their  physicians  are  in  keep- 
ing with  it.  They  are  wholly  self-taught,  or, 
more  properly,  untaught.  They  have  nothing 
like  medical  colleges,  or  a system  of  medical 
discipline.  They  are  like  too  many  in  our 
own  country  who  rush  into  the  study  of 
medicine  without  a sufficient  literary  or  sci- 
entific education  upon  which  to  base  a medi- 
cal education,  and  thus  prostitute  a noble 
profession.  Without  a correct  knowledge  of 
their  owm  language,  they  read  a few  of  their 
medical  manuscripts,  and  start  out  for  a 
patient,  following  the  manuscript  very  closely 
in  their  treatment.  Should  they  get  a pa- 
tient who  is  pretty  sick,  and  he  recover  in 
spite  of  their  treatment,  their  reputation  is 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


149 


made.  The  reputation  once  made  seldom 
wanes,  for  the  physician’s  tongue  helps  him 
out  of  a great  many  scrapes.  If  he  loses 
a patient,  the  spirits  or  some  other  insur- 
mountable object  have  always  been  in  the 
way. 

It  is  seldom  however,  that  a man  pro- 
fesses to  be  a general  practitioner;  they  turn 
their  attention  to  specialities.  One  will  be 
renowned  for  fevers,  whilst  another  will  have 
a reputation  in  cases  of  small-pox.  The  Siam- 
ese physicians  are  held  in  great  esteem  by 
the  people,  an  esteem  but  little  less  than 
that  offered  to  princes  and  nobles,  but  of 
a different  kind.  That  given  to  the  latter 
is  a kind  of  servile  reverence,  but  the  for- 
mer is  a true  esteem.  They  have  two  gene- 
ral classes  of  physicians,  viz.,  the  royal  phy- 
sicians and  the  people’s  physicians.  The  for- 
mer class  are  appointed  by  the  King  to 
practice  in  the  palace,  and  amongst  the  princes 
and  nobles,  and  receive  a small  salary  from 
the  royal  treasury.  The  latter  class  are  self- 


150 


SIAM. 


appointed,  and  receive  no  regular  salary,  but 
depend  upon  their  fees  for  their  living,  and  as  a 
general  thing  make  it  pay  better  than  the  other 
class.  A common  physician  of  reputation  is 
frequently  promoted  to  be  a royal  physician. 

They  have  also  another  kind  of  doctors  who 
profess  to  cure  certain  kinds  of  diseases  by 
shampooing  and  manipulating.  They  are  well 
versed  in  the  locality  of  the  muscles,  tendons, 
and  blood-vessels.  They  gently  press  these 
points,  and  when  one  is  tired  and  weaiy,  it  has 
a soothing  effect,  and  produces  sleep,  and  in 
some  diseases  it  may  prove  beneficial.  I have 
found  it  very  beneficial  at  times  of  great  wea- 
riness and  lassitude. 

The  common  physicians  are  always  employed 
by  the  job,  and  always  on  the  condition,  no 
cure  no  pay.  Sometimes,  if  the  disease  is  chro- 
nic, and  but  little  hope  of  recovery,  they  stipu- 
late to  pay  a certain  sum  in  case  of  an  allevia- 
tion of  the  disease,  and  so  much  more  in  case  of 
a permanent  cure.  A bargain  is  always  struck 
by  the  patient  himself,  or  by  his  friends,  before 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


151 


the  physician  takes  charge  of  the  case.  Some- 
times, if  a doctor  sees  his  patient  is  going  to 
die,  and  he  be  the  loser,  he  will  take  “French 
leave”  without  giving  the  friends  any  notice 
whatever  of  his  intentions.  Generally  however 
a more  honorable  course  is  pursued,  and  the 
doctor  gives  up  the  patient,  and  releases  the 
friends  from  all  obligations,  and  they  are  at 
liberty  to  call  another  doctor.  The  physician 
is  thus  changed  frequently,  several  times  before 
death  or  recovery,  each  new  one  putting  in  for 
a higher  bid.  They  have  also  a kind  of 
domestic  water  treatment,  by  copious  bathing, 
which  in  many  cases  is  far  more  beneficial 
than  their  nostrums. 

They  are  also  great  people  for  recipes,  and 
many  of  the  temples  have  these  recipes  in- 
scribed by  scores  upon  the  walls,  and  upon  little 
marble  tablets,  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  and 
all  others  who  wish  to  use  them.  The  king 
frequently  makes  merit  by  having  these  recipes 
thus  inscribed.  The  following  one  for  small- 
pox, will  serve  as  a specimen  : 


152 


SIAM. 


“ One  portion  of  conch-shell ; two  kinds  of 
aperient  fruit,  one  portion  of  each ; two  kinds  of 
sour  leaves,  one  portion  of  each ; one  portion  of 
asafoetida,  one  of  borax,  one  of  ginger,  nine 
kinds  of  pepper,  including  tke  hottest,  a portion 
of  each ; four  kinds  of  cooling  roots,  a portion 
of  each;  one  of  an  astringent  root;  four  kinds 
of  drastic  cathartics,  including  the  fruit  and 
leaves  of  the  croton  plant,  one  portion  of  each ; 
one  of  rhubarb,  and  one  of  Epsom  salts.  Boil 
in  three  measures  of  water  until  it  be  dimin- 
ished to  one  measure  of  the  decoction.  Then 
squeeze  out  the  oily  parts,  dry,  and  pulverize. 
A woman  may  take  the  weight  of  thirty  cents 
in  silver,  and  a child  may  take  the  weight  of 
seven  and  one-half  cents  in  silver.  It  will 
purge  off  everything  in  the  bowels.'' 

They  have  as  yet  little  or  no  confidence  in' 
European  physicians  and  medicines.  They 
however,  are  obliged  to  acknowledge  their 
ability  as  surgeons,  and  they  are  beginning  to 
have  confidence  in  quinine  in  the  treatment  of 
fevers.  They  know  nothing  of  anatomy,  and 


PRACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


153 


consequently  nothing  of  surgery.  They  do  not 
pretend  to  lance  even  a common  boil,  but  de- 
pend upon  opening  it  with  poultices. 

The  first  amputation  was  performed  in  Siam 
by  Dr.  Bradly,  in  1837.  A company  of  priests 
at  the  dedication  of  a temple  were  playing  with 
fireworks,  when  a cannon  burst,  and  killed 
several  and  wounded  many  more.  Dr.  Bradly 
offered  his  professional  services,  but  all  the 
wounded  refused,  except  two.  He  amputated 
the  arm  of  one  of  them,  and  dressed  their  other 
wounds,  and  they  soon  recovered,  but  all  the 
others  died.  Inoculation  for  small-pox  was  in- 
troduced by  the  missionary  physicians  in  1838. 
They  found  themselves  surrounded  by  the  dis- 
ease, and  being  without  vaccine  virus,  they 
inoculated  their  own  children  as  the  next  best 
thing  that  could  be  done.  It  acted  so  well  that 
the  king  sent  a number  of  the  royal  physicians 
to  examine  into  it,  And  learn  how  it  was  done. 
Having  learned,  he  sent  them  out  through  the 
city  to  inoculate. 

Vaccination  was  introduced  in  1840,  from  a 

10 


154 


SIAM. 


scab  sent  out  from  Boston  via  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope.  It  finally  died  out,  and  was  again  re- 
newed from  time  to  time.  It  is  now  constantly 
kept  up  by  Dr.  Campbell,  a Scotch  physician, 
in  connection  with  the  English  Consulate.  The 
natives  no  longer  hesitate  to  have  their  children 
vaccinated,  and  it  has  done  much  towards 
staying  the  ravages  of  the  small-pox. 

The  first  operation  for  cataract  was  success- 
fully performed  by  Dr.  Bradly,  upon  the  eyes 
of  a distinguished  nobleman  and  minister  of 
state. 

They  know  nothing  of  obstetrics,  and  those 
cases  where  nature  needs  to  be  assisted,  are  left 
to  die.  Superstition  too,  has  enveloped  the  whole 
affair  in  silly  and  ridiculous  notions.  Since 
they  believe  in  the  transmigration  of  souls,  and 
that  the  spirits  of  all  persons  who  are  born 
have  existed  in  some  previous  state,  their  books 
on  midwifery  pretend  to  teach  parents  how  they 
may  know  whence  their  children  came,  and 
whether  the  expected  stranger  will  be  a boy  or 
girl.  There  is  also  a choice  in  the  day  of  the 


PEACTICE  OF  MEDICINE. 


155 


week  upon  which  a child  is  born.  Wednesday 
and  Thursday  are  particularly  favorable  for 
robust  constitutions,  and  bright  intellects. 
Children  born  on  Sunday,  are  liable  to  be  care- 
less and  reckless  all  their  lives. 

This  business  is  almost  wholly  committed  to 
elderly  women  or  midwives.  Male  physicians 
are  seldom  called  in  on  such  occasions,  unless 
the  case  requires  extraordinary  skill,  and  then 
they  are  as  ignorant  as  the  midwives  them- 
selves. They  always  attempt  to  assist  natural 
labor  by  the  use  of  domestic  medicines,  sham- 
pooing, and  other  manipulations,  and  in  many 
instances  do  positive  injury  by  deranging  natu- 
ral labor.  Facts  however,  prove  that  parturi- 
tion amongst  the  Siamese  is  much  shorter  and 
easier  than  amongst  Europeans  and  Americans. 
One  reason  is,  that  they  have  more  of  the  ani- 
mal in  their  natures,  and  doubtless  the  kind  of 
dress  they  wear  has  much  to  do  with  it — their 
dress  being  more  in  accordance  with  nature. 

It  is  after  the  birth  of  the  child  that  the 
Siamese  mothers  have  to  endure  torture.  It  is 


156 


SIAM. 


a custom  amongst  them,  as  immutable  as  the 
laws  of  the  Medes  and  Persians,  that  the  mother 
after  the  birth  of  the  child,  must  lie  by  a hot 
fire  from  five  to  thirty  days.  After  the  first 
child  they  must  remain  by  the  fire  about  thirty 
days,  but  the  time  gradually  diminishes  with 
every  subsequent  birth.  She  is  placed  on  a 
hard  board,  with  nothing  under  her  but  a thin 
mat,  and  no  clothing  but  a narrow  waist-cloth, 
and  is  thus  obliged  to  lie  within  four  or  five  feet 
of  a hot  fire.  This  is  generally,  too,  in  a small 
room,  with  no  chimney,  but  the  fire  is  on  an 
open  furnace,  and  the  smoke  is  allowed  to  es- 
cape as  best  it  can.  In  such  a climate  as  Siam, 
this  must  be  positively  injurious,  and  it  cer- 
tainly makes  young  mothers  look  prematurely 
old.  It  is  not  known  whence  this  custom 
originated.  It  is  also  practised  amongst  the 
Cambodians,  Peguans,  Burmese,  and  Cochin 
Chinese. 


CHAPTER,  IX. 

FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 

9]  HE  staple  of  the  country  is  rice.  Their 
A farming  operations  are  simple  in  the  ex- 
j treme,  and  as  the  soil  is  very  fertile,  I 
know  of  no  place  where  the  husbandman  i3 
so  abundantly  rewarded  for  so  little  labor. 
Their  plough  is  exactly  like  that  used  in  Scrip- 
ture times,  and  pictures  of  which  you  have 
doubtless  seen  in  books  on  biblical  antiquities. 
It  consists  simply  of  a crooked  stick,  answer- 
ing for  beam  and  handle,  to  which  a sheath 
is  attached,  to  the  end  of  which  a small  shovel 
is  affixed.  It  has  but  one  handle,  and  is  diffi- 
cult to  hold,  and  hence  from  the  same  kind  of 
an  instrument  we  have  the  Scripture  illustra- 
tion, “No  man  having  put  his  hand  to  the 


158 


SIAM. 


plough  and  looking  back,  is  fit  for  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.”  To  this  plough  they  attach  a 
couple  of  oxen,  or  Indian  buffaloes,  and  when 
sufficient  rain  has  fallen  to  soften  the  ground  a 
little,  they  scratch  it  over  with  their  little 
plough.  When  sufficient  rain  has  fallen  to 
turn  the  ground  into  a perfect  mortar,  they 
stir  it  up  again,  and  sow  the  rice  upon  the 
mud.  This  they  sometimes  harrow  over  with  a 
brush  or  rude  wooden  harrow.  About  this 
time  the  water  in  the  rivers  begins  to  overflow 
the  banks,  and  gradually  overflows  the  rice 
fields  to  the  depth  of  three  or  four  feet.  The 
rice  however,  manages  to  grow,  and  keep  head 
above  water,  and  so  long  as  it  can  do  this  it 
is  all  right.  The  water  keeps  up  until  the  rice 
is  out  in  heads,  and  then  it  begins  to  subside 
until  harvest,  when  the  ground  is  generally 
quite  dry.  I have  rode  in  my  boat  for  a whole 
day,  directly  over  the  rice  fields,  when  the  rice 
was  coming  out  in  heads,  and  found  the  water 
in  many  places  four  feet  deep,  but  the  heads 
of  the  rice  were  waving  in  the  wind  majesti- 


FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 


159 


cally  above  it.  The  best  quality  of  rice  is 
raised  by  transplanting.  The  ground  is  pre- 
pared the  same  as  before,  but  instead  of  sowing 
broadcast,  they  take  the  rice  plants,  and  place 
them  in  the  soft  mud  with  the  hand.  This 
■work  is  generally  done  by  women  and  children, 
and  they  do  it  very  dextrously,  placing  the 
plant  in  the  mud  with  the  thumb  and  finger 
almost  as  fast  as  they  can  walk.  It  is  put 
down  in  rows,  about  two  or  three  inches  apart. 
This  is  the  same  kind  of  rice  as  the  other,  only 
the  grains  are  fuller  and  better,  and  it  com- 
mands a better  price  in  market. 

After  planting  his  rice  the  farmer  has  little 
or  nothing  to  do  until  his  crop  begins  to  ripen, 
when  all  hands  have  to  turn  out  to  drive  off  the 
birds.  There  are  immense  flocks  of  a diminu- 
tive little  bird,  with  gray  and  red  wings,  and 
about  the  size  of  a canary,  and  sings  almost  a3 
sweetly.  They  are  beautiful  little  creatures, 
but  great  rice-eaters,  and  would  soon  destroy  a 
whole  crop  if  not  driven  away.  Men,  women 
and  children  have  all  to  turn  out  to  guard 


160 


SIAM. 


off  these,  and  other  rice-eating  birds,  until  the 
harvest  is  gathered. 

The  rice  crop  is  harvested  about  the  first  of 
January,  with  a kind  of  primitive  sickle,  and 
bound  into  small  sheaves.  It  is  then  collected 
by  means  of  a nondescript  ox-cart  into  one 
place,  where  they  intend  to  thresh  it.  The 
threshing  floor  is  levelled  off  on  the  ground,  as 
in  Scripture  times,  and  a bamboo  pole  is  set 
up  in  the  centre,  upon  the  top  of  which  a few 
heads  of  the  best  rice  have  been  tied,  as  a 
kind  of  first  fruit-offering  to  the  spirits.  The 
sheaves  are  then  placed  around  in  a circle,  and 
a number  of  oxen  are  driven  around  abreast 
upon  it.  When  threshed,  the  rice  is  collected 
into  a heap  and  winnowed  with  a large  fan. 
The  threshing  is  frequently  done  at  night,  and 
I have  seen  the  banks  of  some  of  the  rivers 
illuminated  for  miles  with  fires  around  the 
threshing  floors.  The  crops  are  generally 
abundant,  and  the  labors  of  the  husbandman 
abundantly  rewarded. 

The  native  mills  for  hulling  the  rice  are 


FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 


161 


small  basket  affairs  turned  by  hand,  but  there 
are  now  in  operation  four  steam  rice-mills, 
built  and  owned  by  Europeans,  and  which  clean 
on  an  average  about  four  thousand  piculs  of 
cargo  rice  daily. 

Bangkok  is  one  of  the  greatest  rice  ports  in 
the  world,  and  vast  quantities  are  shipped 
every  year  to  China,  Europe,  California  and 
other  places. 

Cotton  grows  well,  and  the  quality  is  good, 
but  is  not  raised  in  any  quantities.  A few 
Hainan  Chinese  have  located  up  the  country, 
and  are  raising  cotton,  but  all  they  raise  is 
shipped  in  junks  to  the  island  of  Hainan. 

Some  little  Indian  corn  is  raised,  but  not  as  a 
business;  it  is  generally  used  when  soft.  Vege- 
tables of  various  kinds  are  also  raised  in  con- 
siderable quantities,  such  as  sweet  potatoes,  tur- 
nips, cabbage,  beans,  peas,  cucumbers,  squashes 
and  egg-plants. 

All  tropical  fruits  are  also  abundant,  such  as 
oranges  in  great  variety,  shaddocks,  plantains, 
mangos,  mango-stines,  jack-fruit  and  bread- 


162 


SIAM. 


fruit.  The  king  of  fruits  to  the  natives  how- 
ever, is  the  durien,  a large  fruit  about  the  size 
of  a man’s  head,  with  a prickly  shell.  Inside 
the  shell  there  are  a number  of  lobes,  each 
having  a large  seed,  surrounded  with  a white 
pulpy  substance,  resembling  custard  highly  fla- 
vored with  garlic.  To  most  Europeans  the 
smell  of  the  fruit  is  very  offensive,  resembling 
that  of  a spoiled  egg.  When  a boat  load  of 
the  fruit  is  passing  up  the  river,  even  before 
the  shell  is  broken,  it  can  be  smelled  at  a great 
distance.  Strange  to  say  however,  after  a few 
contacts  most  Europeans  become  extremely 
fond  of  the  fruit,  notwithstanding  the  smell. 
It  is  however,  like  most  acquired  tastes,  the 
end  gained  scarcely  j ustifi.es  the  effort  in  obtain- 
ing it. 

The  palm  is  there  also  in  considerable  variety. 
The  palmyra,  the  cocoanut,  the  nypa,  the  date, 
and  the  areca  palms,  all  figure  to  some  extent. 

Amongst  the  woods  the  teak  is  most  valued 
for  ship  building,  and  quantities  of  it  are  ship- 
ped every  year  to  China  and  Europe  for  that 


FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 


163 


purpose.  Rosewood  is  also  abundant,  and  a 
variety  of  other  red  woods.  Sapan  wood  is 
largely  exported  to  China  for  dyeing  purposes. 

There  is  scarcely  anything  so  generally  used 
and  so  universally  prized  as  the  bamboo.  It 
grows  in  clumps  to  the  height  of  about  seventy- 
five  feet;  and  when  full  grown  is  about  six  or 
eight  inches  in  diameter  at  the  butt.  It  also 
grows  in  joints,  and  is  hollow  except  at  the 
joint.  The  houses  of  the  poorer  classes  are  all 
built  of  this.  Their  baskets,  boxes,  buckets, 
boat  covers,  and  nearly  all  the  utensils  used  by 
the  poorer  classes,  are  made  of  it.  It  is  to  all 
appearances  a “sine  qua  non ” in  the  country. 

Their  domestic  animals  are  few.  The  ox  and 
the  Indian  buffalo  are  prized  for  farming  pur- 
poses. Fowls  and  ducks  are  raised  in  great 
quantities,  but  by  the  Siamese  only  for  the 
eggs;  the  Chinese  however,  eat  large  quanti- 
ties .of  them.  The  ducks  have  lost  the  instinct 
of  incubation,  and  the  eggs  are  hatched  by  arti- 
ficial means.  Pariah  dogs  are  there  in  great 
numbers,  and  many  of  them  without  any  own- 


164 


SIAM. 


ers,  and  they  frequently  render  night  hideous 
by  their  howling. 

Amongst  the  ferocious  animals  the  tiger  is 
chief ; both  the  Bengal  and  leopard  species  are 
found  in  numbers  in  the  jungles.  The  fox, 
wolf,  and  a small  species  of  bear,  are  also  found. 

Monkeys  in  great  variety  are  there,  and  in 
passing  up  the  rivers  and  along  the  canals  they 
can  be  seen  in  large  droves  perched  upon  the 
trees,  cutting  up  their  antics  apparently  for  the 
benefit  of  the  passer  by.  .Several  species  of 
deer,  and  wild  hogs,  abound  in  the  jungles. 
Jungle-fowls,  pea-fowls,  and  a vast  variety  of 
other  birds  abound,  so  that  an  expert  sports- 
man can  find  plenty  to  do  for  his  gun. 

About  thirty  species  of  venomous  serpents 
are  known  to  the  natives,  about  one  half  of 
which  are  considered  very  poisonous.  A few 
inflict  deadly  wounds  with  their  tails.  One  of 
the  most  venomous  is  five  or  six  feet  longhand 
has  the  power  of  reflecting  prismatic  colors. 
The  cobra,  or  hooded  serpent,  is  abundant. 
The  boa  constrictor  is  also  common,  but  does 


FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 


165 


little  harm  except  rob  hen-roosts  at  night. 
The  writer  has  frequently  been  obliged  to  arise 
at  night  to  relieve  his  hen-roost  from  their 
attacks,  and  he  has  seen  them,  when  killed, 
measuring  twelve  and  fifteen  feet  long.  The 
natives  tell  marvellous  stories  about  those  found 
in  the  forests,  forty  and  fifty  feet  long,  and 
which  can  crush  and  swallow  a deer,  or  an  ox, 
without  any  difficulty.  Vast  numbers  of  harm- 
less little  lizards  are  constantly  sporting  upon 
the  walls  of  your  house  and  bed-room.  The 
most  noted  is  the  “gecho,”  a large  dragon- 
headed lizard,  about  six  or  eight  inches  long, 
called  by  the  Siamese  “ To-kay.”  He  secretes 
himself  during  the  day,  but  comes  out  on  the 
walls  at  night  in  search  of  moschetos  and  other 
things  for  food.  He  is  a fierce-looking  fellow, 
and  most  Europeans  at  first  sight  are  terribly 
afraid  of  him.  Shortly  after  our  arrival  in  the 
country,  one  evening  when  we  were  about  to 
retire,  we  discovered  something,  presenting 
rather  a ferocious  appearance,  in  the  corner  of 
the  bed-room  near  the  ceiling.  My  wife  could 


166 


SIAM. 


not  think  of  retiring  with  such  a creature  so 
near  the  bed,  so  I got  a long  bamboo  pole  and 
called  in  a native  man  to  assist,  and  after  a 
considerable  contest  we  succeeded  in  worsting 
him.  They  have  also  a tremendous  voice,  and 
at  night  will  often  keep  you  awake  by  hollow- 
ing “ To-kay,  To-kay,”  from  some  secret  corner 
of  your  bed-room.  We  once  lived  in  a part  of 
a house,  the  other  half  of  which  was  occupied 
by  another  mission  family.  There  was  a large 
“To-kay”  which  had  been  about  the  house  for 
some  time,  and  was  quite  a pet  with  the  other 
family,  and  they  would  not  allow  him  to  be 
disturbed.  In  the  evening,  however,  just  when 
our  baby  would  get  to  sleep,  he  would  come  out 
and  commence  his  hollowing  and  wake  her  up 
again.  One  afternoon  when  the  other  family 
were  out,  he  came  out  on  the  porch,  or  veranda, 
and  commenced  hollowing  lustily,  and  I loaded 
my  shot  gun  and  brought  him  down.  This, 
and  the  one  already  alluded  to,  are  the  only 
encounters  I have  ever  had  with  the  “To-kays.” 
An  American  gentleman  who  was  travelling 


FARMING  AND  PRODUCTS. 


167 


around  the  world,  once  stopped  with  us.  He 
arrived  from  the  ship  about  9 o’clock  in  the 
evening.  He  was  scarcely  in  the  house  until 
a To-kay  commenced  hollowing,  apparently  for 
his  edification.  The  gentleman  looked  up  in 
consternation,  exclaiming,  “ What’s  that — a 
billy-goat?” 


CHAPTER  X. 


MODE  OF  DIVIDING  TIME. 

yfHE  twenty-fours  of  the  day  are  divided 
2 ! into  two  equal  parts.  The  day  is  called 
^ Wdn,  and  the  night  Kun.  The  former 
begins  at  6 A.  M.,  and  the  latter  at  6 P.  M. 
The  hours  of  the  forenoon  are  numbered  from 
one  up  to  six,  or  mid-day.  The  hours  of  the 
afternoon  are  numbered  in  the  same-  way.  The 
forenoon  is  called  Pela  Chow,  and  the  afternoon 
Pela  Bai.  The  word  denoting  an  hour  of.  the 
day  is  Mong,  and  that  denoting  an  hour  of 
the  night  is  Toom.  In  expressing  9 o’clock, 
A.  M.,  they  would  say,  “ Sam  Mong  Chow,” 
or  the  third  hour  of  the  morning.  Three 
o’clock,  P.  M.,  they  would  say,  “Sam  Mong 
Bai,”  or  the  third  hour  of  the  afternoon. 


DIVIDING  TIME.  169 

Nine  o’clock  in  the  evening,  they  would  say 
“Sam  Toom.” 

Siamese  months  are  lunar  months,  but  often 
vary  from  the  moon  a day  or  two.  Each 
month  is  divided  into  two  parts,  the  waxing 
and  waning  moon.  The  former  has  always 
fifteen  days,  but  the  latter  has  sometimes  fifteen 
and  sometimes  fourteen.  Six  of  their  months 
have  thirty  days,  and  six  twenty-nine  days, 
making  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  days  to 
the  year,  which  lacks  eleven  days  of  a full  solar 
year.  To  compensate  this  deficiency,  they  have 
an  intercalary  month  of  thirty  days,  every  two 
or  three  years.  There  is  still  however,  a defi- 
ciency of  about  three  days  in  nineteen  years, 
which  is  supplied  by  adding  a day  to  the 
seventh  month  from  time  to  time,  whenever 
the  astrologers  may  think  proper. 

They  have  no  word  to  denote  a week  of  time, 
but  each  day  has  its  appropriate  name  and 
number,  commencing  at  Sunday  and  ending  at 
Saturday.  By  the  recurrence  of  the  first  and 
11 


170 


SIAM. 


seventh  days,  they  are  reminded  that  seven 
days  of  time  have  elapsed. 

The  days  of  the  week  are: 

1st.  Wan  Atit,  (day  of  the  sun,)  Sunday. 

2d.  Wan  Chau,  (day  of  the  moon,)  Monday. 

3d.  Wan  Angkan,  (day  of  Mars,)  Tuesday. 

4th.  Wan  P&ot,  (day  of  Mercury,)  Wednesday. 

5th.  Wan  Prahat,  (day  of  Jupiter,)  Thursday. 

6th.  Wan  Sook,  (day  of  Venus,)  Friday. 

7th.  Wan  Sow,  (day  of  Saturn,)  Saturday. 

Their  months  are  numbered  from  one  up  to 
twelve,  and  have  no  particular  names,  but  are 
designated  by  their  numbers.  The  first  and 
second  months,  it  is  true,  are  called  by  names, 
but  their  names  have  the  same  meaning  as 
their  numbers. 

They  have  two  cycles,  one  within  the  other. 
The  greater  cycle  is  twelve,  the  smaller  ten. 
The  former  is  called  Pee,  their  common  name 
for  year,  and  the  latter  is  called  Sole.  Every 
year  of  each  kind  of  cycles  has  its  own  specific 


name. 


DIVIDING  TIME. 


171 


The  years  of  the  cycle  of  twelve  are : 
1st.  Pee  Ch&oat,  year  of  the  Rat. 


2d.  Pee  Chdloo,  “ 

it 

Cow. 

3d.  Pee  Kdn,  “ 

U 

Tiger. 

4th.  Pee  Taw,  “ 

U 

Rabbit. 

5th.  Pee  Marong,  “ 

i( 

Great  Dragon. 

6th.  Pee  Maseng,  “ 

u 

Small  Dragon. 

7th.  Pee  Mameea,  “ 

u 

Horse. 

8th.  Pee  Mamaa,  “ 

4( 

Goat. 

9th.  Pee  Wawk,  “ 

a 

Monkey. 

10th.  Pee  Raka,  “ 

u 

Cock. 

11th.  Pee  Chaw,  “ 

u 

Dog. 

12th.  Pee  Koon,  “ 

a 

Hog. 

The  years  of  the  cycle  of  ten  are : 

Eka  Sok,  1st.  cycle. 

To  Sok,  2d.  “ 

Tree  Sok,  3d.  u 

Chattawa  Sok,  4th.  u 

Benya  Sok,  5th.  u 

Chaw  Sok,  6th.  “ 

Sapta  Sok,  7th.  “ 

Atta  Sok,  8 th.  “ 

Woppa  Sok,  9 th.  “ 

Samretti  Sok,  10th.  “ 

In  writing  the  number  of  their  era,  they 
mention  the  name  of  each  cycle,  as  it  happens 


172 


SIAM. 


to  be.  For  instance,  January  1870,  would  be 
1231  Pee  Maseng  Elza  Sok,  year  of  the  small 
dragon,  1st  of  the  cycle  of  10,  and  1231  of  the 
civil  era.  The  Siamese  sacred  era  is  reckoned 
from  the  time  of  Budha’s  supposed  death,  which, 
on  the  full  moon  of  May  1870,  was  2413  years. 
This  era  is  only  used  in  religious  matters.  The 
civil  era  is  reckoned  from  the  time  that  Fra 
Pooang,  a Siamese  king  of  great  celebrity, 
established  it,  and  on  March  27,  1870,  was 
1231  full  years. 

Although  the  Brahmin  astrologers  manage  to 
calculate  eclipses  with  considerable  accuracy, 
the  great  mass  of  the  Siamese  are  wholly 
ignorant  of  their  true  cause.  They  attribute 
them  to  Pahu,  a terrible  monster  who  threatens 
to  devour  the  sun  and  moon.  When  they  see 
an  eclipse  of  any  kind  coming  on,  they  com- 
mence firing  guns,  beating  gongs  and  tin-pans, 
and  shouting,  to  frighten  away  Paha.  The  late 
king  however,  studied  astronomy,  and  could 
calculate  eclipses  in  the  European  way,  and  did 
much  to  dispel  the  ignorance  of  his  subjects  in 
regard  to  such  matters. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 

A/r 

j T would  be  unjust  to  close  without  at  least 
A some  reference  to  the  efforts  of  missionaries 
j1  to  evangelize  Siam.  It  is  also  just  to  state 
that  there  is  scarcely  any  other  field,  in  which 
modern  missions  have  been  established,  where 
the  introduction  of  the  gospel  has  met  with  so 
little  opposition  as  in  Siam  proper,  and  espe- 
cially during  the  late  reign,  and  so  far  during 
the  present.  It  is  equally  just  to  say  that  there 
is  scarcely  any  other  field  which  has  been  so 
barren  of  results.  Pure  Budhism  appears  to 
yield  more  slowly  to  the  power  of  the  gospel 
than  any  other  false  system.  Even  Brahminism 
itself  yields  more  rapidly.  The  Siamese  have 
the  utmost  confidence  in  the  strength  of  their 


174 


SIAM. 


own  religion  to  withstand  the  power  of  the 
gospel,  and  hence  that  stolid  indifference  which 
they  manifest  to  the  introduction  of  the  gospel 
amongst  them.  A nobleman  high  in  rank,  once 
playfully  remarked  to  a missionary,  “Do  you 
expect,  with  your  little  chisel,  to  remove  this 
great  mountain?” 

To  the  Eev.  W.  H.  Medhurst  belongs  the 
honor  of  projecting  the  first  Protestant  mission 
in  Siam.  As  early  as  1827  he  proposed  to 
visit  Siam  and  some  of  the  neighboring  king- 
doms, but  never  was  able  to  accomplish  his 
designs.  The  Eev.  Charles  Gutzlaff  and  Eev. 
Jacob  Tomlin  arrived  in  Siam,  August-  23d, 
1828,  on  a Chinese  junk.  They  obtained  lib- 
erty to  remain  in  Bangkok,  and  labor  amongst 
the  Chinese,  but  through  the  influence  of  the 
Jesuit  missionaries  they  were  afterwards  threat- 
ened with  expulsion  from  the  country.  The 
Portuguese  consul,  Signior  Carlos  de  Silveira, 
the  only  resident  consul  in  Siam  at  that  time, 
interested  himself  in  their  behalf,  and  partly 
through  his  influence  they  were  allowed  to 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


175 


remain.  They  were  out  constantly  talking  to 
the  Chinese,  and  distributing  books,  which  soon 
excited  the  suspicions  of  the  Siamese,  that  the 
missionaries  were  endeavoring  to  incite  the 
Chinese  to  rebellion.  The  King  ordered  some 
of  their  books  to  be  examined,  and  when  noth- 
ing objectionable  was  found  in  them,  they  were 
allowed  to  proceed.  It  is  believed  however  that 
a secret  edict  was  issued,  forbidding  the  people 
to  receive  the  books.  The  only  English  mer- 
chant then  in  the  country  was  quietly  requested 
to  take  the  missionaries  away  in  one  of  his 
ships.  They  however  demanded  of  the  Minis- 
ter of  Foreign  Affairs  the  cause  of  such  a step, 
and  claimed  equal  rights  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  missionaries,  who  were  allowed  to  pur- 
sue their  labors  without  molestation.  This 
appeal  brought  the  Minister  to  terms,  and  they 
were  allowed  to  remain.  They  studied  to  some 
extent  the  Siamese  language,  and  endeavored 
to  translate  portions  of  the  Scriptures  into  that 
language,  which  was  of  course  labor  lost,  as 
they  had  only  been  in  the  country  about  six 


176 


SIAM. 


months,  and  it  was  impossible  that  they  could 
have  acquired  the  Siamese  sufficiently  to  do 
anything  at  translating. 

Mr.  Tomlin’s  health  had  now  failed  to  some 
extent,  and  he  left  for  Singapore.  Mr.  GutzlafF 
remained  a short  time,  and  also  left  for  a time. 
During  his  absence  he  married  Miss  Maria 
Newell,  an  English  lady  then  residing  at  Ma- 
lacca, and  then  returned  with  his  wife  to  Bang- 
kok. They  were  there  however,  but  little  over 
a year  when  Mrs.  Gutzlaff  died,  and  Mr.  Gutz- 
lafF becoming  discouraged,  took  passage  to 
China  on  a junk.  Messrs.  Gutzlaff  and  Tomlin 
however  had  visited  Siam  wholly  on  their  own 
responsibility,  and  perhaps  never  intended  to 
remain  permanently. 

The  Prudential  Committee  of  the  American 
Board,  upon  the  solicitation  of  Messrs.  Gutzlaff 
and  Tomlin,  sent  the  Rev.  David  Abeel,  then 
in  Canton,  to  Siam  to  make  arrangements  for 
establishing  a mission  there.  Mr.  Abeel  on  his 
way  met  with  Mr.  Tomlin,  and  the  two  together 
proceeded  to  Bangkok,  and  arrived  there  in 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


177 


June,  1831.  They  found  the  people  still  eager 
for  books,  and  soon  established  a place  for 
public  worship  and  the  distribution  of  books. 
Mr.  Abeel  however,  was  soon  brought  down  by 
a fever,  and  when  sufficiently  recovered  to  do 
so,  he  and  Mr.  Tomlin  both  returned  to  Singa- 
pore. Mr.  Abeel’s  health  being  recruited,  he 
embarked  again  alone  for  Bangkok  on  a Chinese 
junk.  He  prosecuted  his  labors  for  about  six 
months  more,  but  in  consequence  of  continued 
ill  health  he  was  obliged  to  leave  for  good. 

In  1832  the  Bev.  Messrs.  Stephen  Johnston 
and  Charles  Robinson  were  appointed  by  the 
American  Board  for  Siam,  but  before  they 
arrived,  and  even  before  Mr.  Abeel  left,  the 
Baptist  mission  in  Burmah  transferred  the  Rev. 
J.  T.  Jones  to  Bangkok.  Mr.  Jones  was  per- 
mitted to  reap  the  fruits  of  some  of  the  seed 
sown  by  those  who  preceded  him,  and  a small 
Chinese  church  was  organized  by  him,  which  is 
still  in  existence,  and  is  now  under  the  pastoral 
care  of  the  Rev.  William  Dean,  D.  D.  Messrs. 
Johnston  and  Robinson,  already  alluded  to, 


178 


SIAM. 


arrived  in  Bangkok,  July  25th,  1834.  They 
were  kindly  received  by  the  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  and  soon  after  arrival  secured  a lot  of 
ground  and  proceeded  to  build  upon  it.  Thus 
was  finally  established  in  Siam  the  mission  of 
the  American  Board,  which,  after  several  years 
of  labor,  was  eventually  removed  to  China. 

The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
in  1840  sent  out  the  Rev.  W.  P.  Buell  and  his 
wife  to  Siam.  Mr.  Buell  however,  had  scarcely 
acquired  the  language  sufficiently  well  to  be- 
come useful,  when  he  was  obliged  to  return  to 
the  United  States  on  account  of  Mrs.  Buell’3 
health.  In  1841  that  Board  sent  out  the  Rev. 
Stephen  Mattoon  and  wife,  and  the  Rev.  S.  R. 
House,  M.  D.  By  the  time  they  arrived  the 
king  then  upon  the  throne  had  become  tired  of 
not  only  missionaries,  but  all  foreigners,  and 
had  determined  upon  an  exclusive  policy.  He 
refused  to  make  commercial  treaties  with  west- 
ern powers,  or  to  open  up  the  country  any  more 
to  commerce.  Sir  James  Brook,  the  English 
ambassador,  received  what  he  considered  an 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


179 


insult  to  his  nation,  and  left  with  the  intention 
of  returning,  prepared  to  open  up  the  country 
by  force.  Our  missionaries  in  consequence  of 
this  determination  of  the  King,  were  unable  to 
secure  a site  for  the  mission,  or  any  foothold 
whatever.  They  were  not  flatly  refused,  but 
were  baffled,  according  to  Siamese  custom,  with 
trifling  excuses  and  postponements,  so  that  they 
became  discouraged,  and  were  upon  the  eve  of 
leaving  the  country  to  seek  some  other,  where 
they  might  find  an  opening.  At  this  juncture 
the  King  was  providentially  removed  by  death, 
and  the  now  late  King  ascended  the  throne. 
He  was  a prince  who  had  imbibed  more  liberal 
views  in  regard  to  foreigners,  and  he  immedi- 
ately opened  up  the  country  to  foreign  com- 
merce, and  our  missionaries  were  permitted  to 
secure  a location. 

It  may  also  be  stated  here,  that  to  the  mis- 
sionaries belongs  the  honor  of  opening  up  the 
country,  although  many  will  doubtless  deny 
them  this  just  due.  The  late  King,  whilst  a 
priest  in  a monastery,  studied  the  English 


180 


SIAM. 


language  with  some  of  the  missionaries,  and 
especially  with  the  Rev.  J.  Caswell.  He  also 
studied  astronomy,  and  some  other  branches  in 
which  he  made  commendable  proficiency.  He 
also  imbibed  from  them  more  liberal  views  in 
regard  to  western  nations,  and  consequently  as 
soon  as  he  ascended  the  throne  he  was  prepared 
to  treat  with  them;  and  that  which  in  many 
other  countries  had  to  be  done  by  gunpowder, 
was  in  this  instance  accomplished  by  missionary 
effort. 

The  present  Regent  once  in  the  presence  of 
the  writer,  whilst  conversing  with  an  American, 
George  F.  Seward,  Esq.,  United  States  Consul- 
General  to  Shanghae,  shrewdly  remarked  that 
“Siam  had  not  been  disciplined  by  English  and 
French  guns  as  China,  but  the  country  had  been 
opened  by  missionaries.” 

The  late  King  always  entertained  the  highest 
regard  for  his  instructor,  the  Rev.  J.  Caswell, 
and  besides  building  a tomb  over  his  grave,  pre- 
sented his  widow  with  $1,500  as  a token  of  his 
regard. 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


181 


The  Presbyterian  Board  has  now  six  mission- 
aries with  their  families  in  Siam  proper,  and 
two  amongst  the  Laos,  a tributary  kingdom  to 
the  north.  They  are  distributed  as  follows: — 
Messrs.  House,  McDonald,  George,  and  Carring- 
ton, in  Bangkok;  Messrs.  McFarland  and  Van 
Dyke  in  Petchaburi;  and  Messrs.  McGilvary 
and  Wilson  amongst  the  Laos.  The  American 
Baptist  Union  has  also  a mission  to  the  Chinese 
in  Siam.  The  missionaries  are,  Bev.  William 
Dean,  D.  D.,  and  Rev.  S.  B.  Partridge,  with  their 
wives,  and  the  Misses  F.  A.  Dean  and  A.  M. 
Fielde,  single  ladies.  The  Rev.  D.  B.  Bradly, 
M.  D.,  was  originally  sent  out  by  the  American 
Board,  but  is  now  in  nominal  connection  with 
the  American  Missionary  Association,  but  is 
wholly  self-sustaining,  receiving  no  support  from 
any  Board.  Besides  supporting  his  family,  he 
preaches  regularly  and  does  other  mission  work. 
The  Rev.  S.  J.  Smith  was  formerly  in  connec- 
tion with  the  American  Baptist  Union,  but  has 
dissolved  his  connection  with  that  Board,  and  is 
now  self-sustaining,  and  also  does  much  mission- 


182 


SIAM. 


ary  work.  This  is  our  force  for  at  least  eight 
millions  of  people. 

When  the  writer  arrived  in  Siam  ten  years 
ago,  there  was  but  one  native  convert  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Presbyterian  mission  church.  We 
have  now  at  Bangkok  a church  numbering  about 
twenty  members;  also  one  at  Petchaburi  with 
about  the  same  membership.  We  have  also  a 
school  in  connection  with  our  mission  which 
averages  about  twenty  five  pupils.  This  school 
has  not  met  the  expectations  of  those  who  have 
had  charge  of  it,  but  there  is  no  reason  to  be 
discouraged  at  the  results.  Whilst  many  of  the 
pupils  have  gone  back  to  heathenism,  and  others 
have  turned  out  badly,  a goodly  number  are 
exemplary  Christians,  and  some  are  looking  for- 
ward to  the  ministry,  and  hope  some  day  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  their  countrymen. 

Ten  years  ago  we  had  the  Gospels  alone  of 
the  Scriptures  translated;  we  have  now  the 
whole  New  Testament.  Many  portions  of  it, 
especially  the  Epistles,  need  revising,  still  it 
answers  the  purpose.  We  have  also  the  Old 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


183 


Testament  translated  as  far  as  through  Joshua, 
and  also  the  prophecy  of  Ezekiel,  and  minor  pro- 
phets. Our  mission  hopes  soon  to  be  able  to 
give  the  people  the  entire  Scriptures  in  their 
own  language.  Our  printing  press  is  constantly 
at  work  printing  the  Scriptures  and  religious 
tracts. 

It  has  also  been  the  duty  of  the  writer,  shortly 
before  leaving  the  country,  to  visit  the  scene  of 
the  last  persecution  (if  we  except  the  late  trou- 
bles in  China)  which  the  history  of  the  church 
has  to  record.  North  of  Siam  proper,  there  are 
a number  of  petty  Laos  kingdoms,  all  of  which 
are  in  a certain  sense  tributary  to  Siam.  They 
pay  a small  annual  tribute,  and  the  King  of 
Siam  claims  the  prerogative  of  nominating  the 
successor  to  the  throne  when  a vacancy  occurs, 
but  aside  from  this  each  of  those  kings  is  abso- 
lute in  his  own  dominions.  The  largest  of  those 
kingdoms  is  Chieng  Mai,  and  the  capital  city  of 
the  same  name  is  situated  in  latitude  18°  48' 
north,  or  about  five  degees  north  of  Bangkok. 
About  three  years  ago  two  of  our  missionaries, 


184 


SIAM. 


Rev.  Messrs.  McGilvary  and  "Wilson,  having 
previously  made  a visit  to  that  kingdom,  deter- 
mined to  establish  a mission  there.  They  ob- 
tained permission  from  the  King,  and  also  from 
the  Siamese  government,  and  with  great  diffi- 
culty and  self-denial  removed  their  families 
thither,  following  the  river  all  the  way  up  over 
the  thirty-two  rapids.  Their  goods  at  the  rapids 
had  to  be  taken  from  the  boats  and  carried 
around,  whilst  the  boats  had  to  be  drawn  up 
with  ropes.  The  whole  journey  occupied  some 
three  months,  a much  longer  time  than  it  now 
takes  to  come  to  the  United  States. 

At  first  they  were  kindly  received  by  the 
King,  but  gradually  his  friendship  began  to  cool 
down.  This  they  attributed  to  the  influence  of 
a mongrel  Portuguese  whom  the  King  had  taken 
into  his  employ,  and  who  was  a Roman  Catholic, 
and  looked  upon  the  missionaries  as  his  enemies. 
After  his  departure  the  King  again  became  more 
friendly.  Some  two  years  after  their  arrival 
they  were  permitted  to  baptize  two  Laos  Chris- 
tians, and  not  long  afterwards  five  others  were 


• MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


185 


received.  This  appeared  to  arouse  the  wrath  of 
the  King,  and  before  the  missionaries  were 
aware  of  it,  he  had  arrested  and  executed  two 
of  the  Christians,  and  warrants  were  issued  for 
the  other  five,- but  they  managed  to  escape  ar- 
rest. The  two  who  were  executed  were  faithful 
witnesses  for  the  truth,  and  died  as  courageously 
and  as  triumphantly  for  the  faith,  as  any  in 
that  long  list  of  martyrs  which  the  history  of  the 
Church  has  to  record.  We  find  here  amongst 
the  mountaineer  Laos,  men  who  but  a short 
time  before  had  embraced  Christ, — infants  as  it 
were,  but  a span  long  in  faith, — sealing  their 
faith  with  their  blood.  Had  we  no  other  fruits 
of  our  long  labors  in  Siam  than  this  glorious 
conversion,  and  still  more  glorious  death  of 
those  mountaineer  Laos,  that  alone  will  more 
than  a thousand  times  repay  all  the  expenditure 
of  men  and  money  upon  that  kingdom. 

The  missionaries  were  not  aware  of  the  execu- 
tion of  the  Christians  at  the  time,  but  soon  dis- 
covered that  servants  and  all  those  in  connection 
with  them  were  leaving,  and  upon  inquir- 
12 


186 


SIAM. 


ing  the  cause  learned  with  difficulty  what  had 
happened,  and  that  the  others  were  leaving 
through  fear  of  the  King.  Most  of  the  princes 
of  the  kingdom,  and  apparently  all  the  people, 
were  indignant  at  the  conduct  of  the  King,  but 
such  was  the  fear  of  him  that  no  one  durst 
scarcely  whisper  a word,  lest  it  might  come  to 
his  ears,  and  their  head  pay  the  penalty  of  their 
rashness.  He  ruled  with  a rod  of  iron.  The 
slightest  theft,  and  continual  drunkenness,  were 
punished  with  death;  and  I must  say,  I know 
of  no  country  where  property  is  so  secure  from 
theft  as  in  Chieng  Mai. 

Such  however,  was  the  known  treachery  of 
the  King,  and  such  the  many  stories  afloat,  that 
the  missionaries  supposed  their  own  lives  in 
danger.  They  tried  to  communicate  with  the 
mission  at  Bangkok,  but  such  was  the  fear  of 
the  King  that  they  could  get  no  one  to  carry  a. 
letter,  although  they  offered  at  one  time  as  high 
as  five  hundred  rupees  ($225)  to  any  one  who 
would  carry  a letter  to  Bangkok.  Fortunately 
however,  a Burmese  came  along  who  was  a 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


187 


native  of  British  Burrnah,  and  an  English  sub- 
ject, and  who  offered  to  carry  the  letter  for 
nothing.  When  we  at  Bangkok  heard  the 
news,  we  did  not  know  but  that  they  and  their 
families  might  be  murdered;  w7e  however  deem- 
ed it  our  duty  to  make  some  effort  to  communi- 
cate with  them.  We  accordingly  sent  a com- 
mittee to  wait  upon  the  Regent  of  Siam,  who, 
after  expressing  his  indignation  at  what  had 
happened,  kindly  offered  a “ Ka  HLudng,”  or 
government  officer,  to  accompany  any  one  of  us 
who  might  wish  to  go  up,  who  should  be  the 
bearer  of  a letter  to  the  King  of  Chieng  Mai, 
and  who  should  also  be  a safe  conduct  to  us. 
The  officer  had  power  to  levy  on  provincial 
towns  along  the  way  such  provisions  and  other 
things  as  we  needed,  and  had  also  power  to 
chastise  delinquent  governors  who  were  slow  to 
comply  with  our  demands.  It  fell  to  the  lot  of 
the  writer,  in  company  with  the  Rev.  S.  C. 
George,  to  go  on  this  important  and  rather  dan- 
gerous errand.  The  letter  from  the  Siamese 
government  only  ordered  the  King  of  Chieng 


188 


SIAM. 


Mai  to  allow  the  missionaries  to  remain  peace- 
ably, if  they  wished  to,  and  if  they  desired  to 
leave,  to  offer  them  every  facility  in  his  power 
to  do  so,  and  by  no  means  to  offer  them  any 
personal  violence,  as  that  would  involve  the 
Siamese  government  in  difficulty  with  the 
United  States  government. 

After  storing  our  boat  with  a few  necessaries 
which  could  not  be  secured  by  the  way,  and 
shipping  a crew  of  six  good  boatmen,  we  turned 
her  bow  toward  the  north.  The  Siamese  officer 
with  his  boats  was  to  follow  on  in  a day  or  two, 
expecting  to  overtake  us  ere  we  reached  Raheng. 
We  rowed  by  day,  and  a few  hours  by  night 
when  the  moon  was  favorable,  and  when  bed- 
time came,  tied  our  boat  up  to  the  bank  and 
slept  till  morning.  After  taking  our  morning 
meal  of  rice  we  were  off  again.  We  thus  jour- 
neyed for  ten  days,  passing  the  provincial’towns 
of  Aung  taw  no,  Chinat,  Monorom,  &c.,  all  of 
which  provinces  have  governors. 

There  is  nothing  striking  in  the  country  or 
scenery  on  this  portion  of  the  route.  The 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


189 


banks  of  tbe  river  are  low  and  tbe  scenery 
rather  monotonous.  The  tenth  day  brought  us 
to  Nakawn  Sawdn,  a provincial  town  at  the 
junction  of  the  two  principal  branches  of  the 
river.  Here  the  novelty  of  the  trip  (if  there  be 
any  novelty  in  it)  was  to  commence.  Our 
course  lay  rather  northwest,  and  the  current  in 
the  branch  of  the  river  which  we  were  to  take 
became  very  rapid,  so  that  our  oars  which  had 
hitherto  served  us  a good  purpose  refused  to 
serve  us  further.  We  had  now  to  resort  to 
poling.  We  had  however,  prepared  ourselves 
somewhat  for  the  emergency,  and  had  secured 
several  bamboo  poles  about  fifteen  feet  long,  in 
the  butt  ends  of  which  were  short  iron  forks. 
A man  with  one  of  these  poles  walked  to  the 
bow  of  the  boat,  and  placing  the  end  of  the 
pole  containing  the  fork  firmly  upon  the  bottom, 
he  placed  his  shoulder  to  the  other  end  and 
walked  to  the  stern.  Another  was  ready  to 
take  his  place,  and  thus  they  kept  the  boat  con- 
stantly moving.  It  required  great  dexterity 
however  on  the  part  of  the  steersman  to  keep 


190 


SIAM. 


the  bow  of  the  boat  to  the  current,  and  thus  be 
enabled  to  stem  it.  So  soon  as  he  allowed  the 
bow  to  turn,  the  least  to  the  current,  the  poles 
would  lose  their  hold,  and  we  were  set  adrift,  and 
in  a few  minutes  would  lose  what  we  would 
make  in  an  hour,  and  besides  it  was  dangerous, 
as  the  river  was  full  of  sna°;s.  The  river  here 
spreads  out  over  a sandy  bottom,  and  many 
places  where  it  was  tolerably  shallow  it  pre- 
sented the  appearance  of  a boiling  chaldron. 
The  bottom  too,  was  treacherous ; on  one  side  of 
the  boat  we  would  be  against  a sand-bar,  whilst 
on  the  other  our  poles  would  not  touch  bottom. 
The  receding  waters  too,  at  that  season  of  the 
year,  left  huge  sand-bars  running  out  from 
either  bank  to  a point  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  and  also  numerous  little  sand-islands. 
Some  portions  of  the  route  were  solitary  in  the 
extreme,  and  in  the  morning  we  were  aroused 
by  the  crowing  of  the  jungle-fowl,  and  the 
scream  of  the  peacock.  In  ten  days  more  of 
poling,  making  in  all  about  twenty-one  from 
Bangkok,  we  reached  B,aheng,  the  last  Siamese 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


191 


provincial  town  on  the  Laos  borders.  Here  it 
was  determined  to  leave  our  boats  and  take  ele- 
phants across  the  country  to  Chieng  Mai.  We 
accordingly  levied  upon  the  Governor  a suffi- 
cient number  of  elephants,  and  an  escort  of  men 
to  see  us  through  the  jungle.  After  some  little 
delay  our  elephants  were  reported  ready.  The 
Governor  of  Raheng  also,  as  a special  favor, 
allowed  his  Lieutenant-Governor,  a fine  young 
nobleman,  acquainted  with  the  route,  to  accom- 
pany us  in  addition  to  the  principal  officer  who 
had  accompanied  us  from  Bangkok.  Our  ele- 
phants were  brought  up  each  with  a saddle,  or 
howdah,  on  his  back.  A frame  is  made  not 
unlike  a wood-horse,  on  the  top  of  which  a seat 
is  made  about  four  feet  long,  like  a buggie  seat, 
and  over  which  a basket  cover  is  placed  to 
shield  the  rider  from  the  sun,  and  the  whole, 
when  on  the  elephant,  resembles  somewhat  the 
top  of  a calash  buggie.  Raw  hides  are  placed 
on  the  back  of  the  elephant  to  keep  it  from 
chafing,  and  the  saddle  is  then  girthed  on  with 
a strong  ratan  rope.  A cushion  is  placed  in 


192 


SIAM. 


the  seat,  so  that  the  rider,  for  a change,  can 
lie  down.  The  Siamese  often  sleep  whilst  the 
elephant  is  going,  but  we  preferred  to  sit 
upright.  You  mount  by  means  of  a high  block, 
or  stand,  but  in  the  absence  of  this  the  elephant 
is  taught  to  hold  up  his  front  leg,  and  his  knee 
forms  a step  by  means  of  which  the  rider  can 
climb  up.  The  driver  sits  astride  the  neck,  in 
front  of  the  saddle,  with  a short  stick  in  his 
hand,  on  the  end  of  which  is  a sharp  iron  hook, 
and  when  the  animal  becomes  unruly  he  drives 
this  hook  unmercifully  into  his  flesh,  which  soon 
brings  him  to  his  senses.  Oftentimes  one  or 
two  of  the  natives  would  crawl  on  behind  to 
ride,  for  a rest.  An  elephant  can  carry  four 
persons  and  a considerable  amount  of  baggage 
with  ease. 

We  started  with  our  train  of  elephants  single 
file.  The  man  ahead  carried  a huge  gong, 
which  he  beat  for  a halt  in  the  evening,  and  for 
starting  in  the  morning,  and  when  approaching 
a town  or  village,  to  let  the  people  know  that  a 
great  personage  was  coming.  Our  course  lay 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


193 


directly  through  the  forest  and  jungle,  and  over 
the  mountains.  About  4 P.  M.  of  the  first  day 
we  encamped  at  the  foot  of  a mountain  spur, 
where  there  was  a pool  of  water.  The  elephants 
were  unloaded,  fettered,  and  turned  out  to 
browse.  As  we  bad  no  tent  along,  our  saddles 
were  placed  around  in  a circle,  and  a fire  was 
kindled  in  the  middle.  Watch  fires  were  also 
lighted  around  outside.  After  cooking  our  rice, 
and  taking  our  suppers,  we  retired  to  rest. 
As  many  as  could,  slept  in  the  saddles,  and  the 
others  threw  themselves  down  on  the  ground, 
with  a single  blanket  around  them.  A watch 
was  also  appointed  to  keep  up  fires,  and  guard 
against  tigers  and  robbers.  Elephant-stealing 
is  common  there,  just  as  horse-stealing  is  with 
us  sometimes.  About  the  middle  of  the  first 
night  we  were  aroused  by  the  elephants  beat- 
ing the  ground  with  their  trunks,  which  they 
always  do  when  alarmed,  and  the  watch  cried 
out,  “sua,  stia!"  a tiger,  a tiger!  The  tiger 
however,  seeing  our  fires  and  watch,  considered 
discretion  the  best  part  of  valor,  and  made  off. 


194 


SIAM. 


In  the  morning  we  were  up  early,  and  had  our 
rice  eaten  and  were  ready  to  start  by  daylight. 
Owing  to  the  difficulty  in  carrying  many  uten- 
sils and  much  provisions  on  elephants,  the  two 
noblemen  and  us  usually  took  our  meals  to- 
together.  It  was  amusing  to  see  us  with  our 
knives  and  forks,  and  they  with  their  fingers, 
all  dipping  into  the  same  dish.  On  one  occa- 
sion I was  considerably  provoked  at  the  chief 
man.  At  a certain  Laos  town  they  brought  us 
victuals  already  cooked,  but  the  fowls  prepared 
after  their  style  were  not  suitable  to  our  taste. 
The  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Raheag,  who  was 
ever  more  mindful  of  our  wants  than  the  head- 
man, requested  that  some  live  fowls  should  be 
brought  in;  that  we  might  have  them  cooked  to 
our  taste.  The  fowls  soon  came,  and  were 
delivered  over  to  the  chief  man,  who  not  know- 
ing that  they  had  been  particularly  requested, 
came  to  us  saying,  "Doctors,  this  is  our  sacred 
day,  and  if  you  don’t  object,  I will  let  these 
fowls  go,  and  make  merit  by  saving  their  lives.” 
I was  about  to  object,  but  my  companion, 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


195 


ever  ready,  quickly  responded,  “ou  tert,  ou 
tert,”  take  them,  take  them.  I was  determined 
however,  not  to  be  done  out  of  a fowl  in  that 
style,  so  I gave  my  shot-gun  to  one  of  my  men, 
and  he  went  out  and  shot  one.  Our  cook  fixed 
it  up  nicely,  and  when  we  came  to  eat,  before  I 
could  get  a piece  for  myself,  the  chief  man  was 
into  it  with  his  fingers,  and  had  like  to  have 
spoiled  the  whole. 

We  crossed  deep  ravines,  wound  around  pre- 
cipices, which  to  look  down  would  make  the 
hair  stand  on  the  head,  and  went  over  moun- 
tains where  one  unaccustomed  to  it  would  say 
an  elephant  could  never  go.  He  is  however, 
sure-footed,  and  when  he  once  plants  his  foot, 
which  he  does  with  great  deliberation,  it  is 
there.  I once  remarked  to  the  driver,  is  there 
no  danger  of  him  falling?  The  reply  was,  “He 
knows  better  than  to  fall,  for  if  he  does,  he  gets 
killed.”  We  went  down  one  or  two  declivities 
where  I would  fain  have  dismounted,  could  I 
have  done  so,  but  it  was  impossible.  The  driver 
spoke  to  his  elephant,  saying,  “slowly.”  He 


196 


SIAM. 


placed  first  one  fore-foot  forward,  and  tlien  the 
other  by  its  side  firmly.  The  driver  then  said 
“drag,”  and  he  threw  his  hind  parts  down  on 
the  ground,  and  drew  them  up  to  the  fore-feet, 
and  then  held  on  until  he  could  again  plant  the 
fore-feet,  and  in  this  way  the  whole  train  passed 
down. 

Sometimes,  too,  our  course  lay  across  vast 
plains  of  rice-fields.  The  rice  had  been  har- 
vested and  threshed,  and  they  were  busied  in 
carrying  it  to  the  villages.  Trains  of  elephants, 
with  baskets  holding  ten  or  twelve  bushels  on 
their  backs,  were  walking  along  majestically 
with  their  loads.  Long  trains  of  bullocks  were 
also  employed  for  this  purpose.  Two  baskets 
were  fastened  on  a frame,  and  thrown  across 
the  back  like  a pair  of  saddle-bags.  The  front 
bullock  was  fantastically  dressed  up  with  a 
mask,  and  a huge  peacock  tail  in  it,  and  nume- 
rous strings  of  little  bells  resembling  sleigh- 
bells.  He  had  also  a driver,  and  ail  the  rest 
followed  after  without  any  drivers.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  thirteenth  day,  the  spires  of 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


197 


the  city  of  Chieng  Mai  began  to  loom  up  in  the 
distance,  and  about  5 o’clock  P.  M.  we  entered 
the  city  with  gong  beating  lustily.  Our  ap- 
proach had  been  heralded  ahead,  and  the 
King  had  his  officers  waiting  to  receive  us. 
Our  missionary  brethren,  whom  we  found 
well,  but  rather  depressed  in  spirits,  also  came 
to  meet  us  with  open  arms.  The  next  day  the 
letter  of  the  Regent  of  Siam  was  to  be  con- 
ducted to  the  palace,  under  the  royal  umbrella, 
and  we,  of  course,  were  to  accompany  it.  Before 
starting,  the  missionaries  held  a consultation 
and  it  was  deemed  best  not  to  cover  anything 
over,  which  might  break  out  again,  as  soon  as 
we  were  gone.  It  was  thought  expedient  to 
bring  matters  to  a focus,  and  then  abide  the 
consequences.  We  found  the  old  King  in  his 
audience  hall,  surrounded  by  his  court,  who 
were  prostrate  before  him.  He  appeared  pale, 
with  suppressed  rage.  After  the  reading  of  the 
Siamese  letter,  he  remarked  that  “ This  letter 
only  gives  the  missionaries  privilege  to  remain, 
if  they  wish — or  to  go,  if  they  wish.”  This 


198 


SIAM. 


opened  the  way,  and  I went  on  to  state,  that 
some  three  years  ago  the  missionaries  had  come 
up  there  with  his  consent,  and  we  might  say 
with  his  invitation,  and  also  with,  the  consent 
of  the  Siamese  government.  They  were  at  first 
kindly  received  by  him,  and  he  showed  them 
many  kindnesses,  for  which  he  deserved  praise, 
and  for  which  they  had  praised  him.  But 
latterly,  things  were  not  going  on  so  well,  and 
circumstances  had  transpired  which  justified 
them  in  writing  to  their  friends  at  Bangkok. 
They  were  now  ready  to  commence  building 
suitable  houses  to  live  in,  but  could  get  no 
workmen,  as  the  people  were  all  afraid  to  work 
for  them;  and  the  reason  was,  that  he  had 
taken  two,  in  connection  with  them,  and  put 
them  to  death.  This  did  not  appear  to  ruffle 
him,  and  he  replied,  that  as  to  workmen  and 
servants  he  had  never  put  anything  in  the  way. 
He  had  put  a couple  of  fellows  to  death,  who 
had  failed  to  do  their  government  work.  It 
appears  that  an  order  had  been  issued  to  a 
certain  number  of  men,  for  each  to  bring  a 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


199 


stick  of  timber  to  repair  the  city  wall.  The 
order  had  been  issued  some  two  days  previous, 
and  when  the  two  Christians  were  on  their  way 
to  get  the  timber,  they  were  arrested  and  exe- 
cuted. The  pretext  given  for  their  arrest  was 
that  they  had  failed  to  comply  with  the  King’s 
command.  Mr.  McGilvary  then  proved  to  him 
most  clearly,  that  they  had  in  no  way  failed  to 
perform  their  government  work;  and  that  when 
they  were  executed,  not  one  out  of  fifty  of  those 
who  had  received  the  order  had  complied  with  it. 
When  he  saw  he  could  not  lie  out  of  it,  he 
fairly  boiled  over  with  rage.  So  great  was  his 
anger  that  I at  one  time  feared  that  it  might 
become  so  uncontrollable  that  he  might  break 
over  all  restraints,  and  do  us  some  personal 
injury.  The  highest  prince  in  the  kingdom 
would  not  have  dared  to  say  the  one  hundredth 
part  of  what  we  did,  without  losing  his  head. 
And  then  to  be  contradicted  and  proven  a liar, 
before  his  court,  was  hard  to  bear.  He  said  he 
had  executed  them  because  they  had  embraced 
the  Christian  religion,  and  he  would  continue  to 


200 


SIAM. 


kill  all  wlio  did  the  same.  The  missionaries 
might  remain,  in  accordance  with  the  command 
of  the  Siamese  government,  but  could  not  teach 
religion — they  could  not  make  Christians.  The 
Siamese  officer  was  also  alarmed  for  our  safety. 
After  a consultation  it  was  considered  expedient 
to  break  up  the  mission  for  a time,  and  we  sent 
in  word  that  the  missionaries  would  leave  as 
soon  as  the  river  would  rise  sufficiently  for  the 
larger  class  of  boats  to  pass  down,  hoping,  how- 
ever, that  Providence  would  so  interfere  in  the 
meantime  as  to  prevent  the  breaking  up  of  the 
mission.  He  has  most  wonderfully  interfered. 
"When  we  left,  the  King  was  preparing  to  come 
down  to  Bangkok,  to  attend  the  cremation  of 
the  late  king  of  Siam.  Whilst  at  Bangkok  the 
United  States  Consul-General,  F.  W.  Partridge, 
demanded  of  the  Siamese  government  that  they 
would  make  the  King  of  Chieng  Mai  conduct 
himself  more  properly,  and  grant  religious  tole- 
ration. They  doubtless  gave  him  such  orders, 
but  he  secretly  told  some  one  that  when  he 
returned,  the  missionaries  would  have  to  leave, 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


201 


according  to  promise.  He  however,  took 
suddenly  sick,  and  left  Bangkok  in  haste,  but 
was  never  permitted  to  enter  again  his  own 
capital.  He  died  on  his  way  home,  and  accord- 
ing to  Laos  custom,  no  corpse  is  permitted  to 
enter  the  city,  and  his  remains  are  now  lying 
in  state  in  his  river  palace  outside  the  city 
walls.  He  was  apparently  the  only  obstacle  to 
the  spread  of  the  Gospel  amongst  that  people. 
The  Laos  are  a hardy  mountaineer  people,  with 
much  more  stamina  of  character  than  the  Siam- 
ese, and  free  from  many  of  their  vices.  I know 
of  no  more  interesting  missionary  field  than 
Chieng  Mai.  They  also  appear  to  be  ready  for 
some  more  substantial  religion  than  Budhism. 

After  spending  ten  days  in  Chieng  Mai  we 
began  to  think  of  returning  home.  The  letter 
of  the  chief  Siamese  officer  required  that  he 
should  return  by  elephants,  as  he  had  come, 
but  we  were  anxious  to  follow  the  river  down, 
in  order  that  we  might  pass  over  the  thirty-two 
rapids,  or  falls,  and  witness  the  scenery  on  the 
way.  To  this  the  King  gave  his  consent  if  we 
13 


202 


SIAM. 


would  secure  boats,  and  he  would  then  send  a 
letter  ahead  to  have  us  sent  from  village  to 
village  along  the  way,  and  would  give  us  pilots 
to  take  us  over  the  rapids.  We  accordingly 
secured  three  boats,  each  about  thirty  feet  long 
and  two  feet  beam,  propelled  by  two  short  oars, 
and  steered  with  a long  paddle  fastened  to  the 
stern  with  a ratan  rope.  These  boats  are  pecu- 
liarly adapted  for  shooting  over  the  rapids. 
We  divided  our  party,  the  chief  man  returning 
on  elephants,  whilst  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of 
Raheng,  and  a number  of  the  men,  accompanied 
us.  After  some  little  delay  we  got  started,  and 
things  went  on  pretty  well  for  part  of  the  first 
day.  Men  were  waiting  on  the  bank  at  every 
village,  to  send  us  on  to  the  next.  Soon 
however,  we  got  ahead  of  the  King’s  letter, 
which  had  started  the  previous  day.  Rather 
than  wait  on  men,  we  put  our  own  men  to  the 
oars,  and  passed  the  villages  by.  Nothing  of 
importance  transpired  for  the  first  five  days. 
Occasionally  we  would  run  on  a sand-bar,  and 
our  men  would  have  to  get  out  and  push  the 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


203 


boats  off.  Sometimes  a company  of  men  and 
women  would  come  down  to  the  river  to  bathe. 
The  Siamese  never  bathe  without  a waist-cloth 
around  them,  but  the  Laos  go  into  the  water 
perfectly  nude,  yet  it  is  done  with  such  dexter- 
ity, that  nothing  amiss  can  be  seen  in  it, 
although  both  sexes  bathe  together.  The  Laos 
women  wear  a garment  resembling  a lady’s 
skirt,  but  very  narrow.  They  step  into  the 
water,  gradually  raising  the  garment,  until  the 
water  becomes  sufficiently  deep  to  cover  their 
nakedness,  and  then  they  slip  the  garment  over 
the  head,  and  lay  it  aside.  When  they  are 
ready  to  come  out,  they  again  practise  the  same 
dexterity  in  putting  it  on.  Nothing  is  thought 
of  such  a scene  amongst  them,  and  it  does  not 
call  forth  such  expressions  of  vulgarity  as  a 
similar  scene  would  amongst  us. 

At  one  time  we  came  near  falling  into  the 
hands  of  what  we  supposed  to  be  a band  of 
robbers.  In  a solitary  bend  of  the  river,  some 
twenty  persons  were  stationed,  some  with  flint- 
lock muskets,  and  others  with  short  swords. 


204 


SIAM. 


They  beckoned  to  our  men  to  stop,  as  if  they 
had  business,  but  our  men,  suspecting  their 
character,  gave  them  a wide  birth,  and  we  put 
our  guns  in  order,  determined  to  die  hard 
should  they  make  an  attack.  Fortunately 
there  were  no  sand-bars  in  the  river,  and  we 
shot  rapidly  past  them,  without  their  attempt- 
ing to  do  us  any  injury. 

The  fifth  day  brought  us  to  the  village  at  the 
head  of  the  rapids.  We  did  not  know  but  now 
we  might  be  in  a tight  place.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  pass  the  rapids  without 
pilots  who  were  intimately  acquainted  with 
every  rock  in  the  river,  and  these  we  could  not 
get  without  the  King’s  order.  The  letter  must 
be  three  days  behind  us,  and  it  would  be  trying 
to  wait  on  it.  The  villagers  too,  seeing  us  pass 
without  stopping,  might  not  send  it  on.  And 
then,  might  it  not  be  a trick  of  the  King,  to 
get  us  into  a scrape,  as  he  was  in  no  pleasant 
mood  towards  us.  We  determined  however,  to 
make  the  best  of  it.  After  arriving  at  the  vil- 
lage, the  Lieutenant-Governor,  who  was  with  us. 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


205 


sent  for  the  head-man  of  the  village,  who  soon 
made  his  appearance.  He  then  inquired,  “ Has 
the  King’s  letter  to  send  us  down  the  rapids 
arrived?”  “No,”  was  the  reply.  “Well,  it  is 
coming,  and  we  are  in  haste.  I want  you  to 
furnish  us  by  to-morrow  morning,  three  of  the 
best  pilots  you  have,  and  also  two  additional 
rowers  for  each  boat,  to  send  us  down  the 
rapids.  I have  foreigners  in  my  charge,  and  if 
anything  happens  to  them,  the  blame  will  rest 
with  you.”  The  next  morning  the  men  made 
their  appearance,  and  a faithful  set  of  fellows 
they  were.  We  were  off  early,  and  very  soon 
began  to  near  the  mountains,  and  just  where  the 
mountains  on  each  side  come  down  to  the  river 
is  the  first  rapid.  Before  approaching  it,  the 
pilots  ran  the  boats  ashore,  and  taking  some 
rice,  fruit,  and  cigars,  they  made  an  offering  to 
the  spirits  of  the  mountain,  and  then  pushed  off. 
Our  boat  was  ahead,  and  the  pilot,  seemingly 
aware  of  the  responsibility  which  rested  upon 
him,  rose  up  and  stood  upon  the  stern,  seized 
tight  hold  of  his  steering  oar,  spoke  a few 


206 


SIAM. 


hurried  words  to  the  oarsmen  in  front,  such  as, 
“Lay  heavy  to  the  right  or  left”,  and  then 
apparently  held  his  breath.  We  also  held  ours; 
the  hair  appeared  to  rise  upon  the  head,  and 
the  heart  beat  very  near  the  throat,  but  in  a 
moment  the  long  breath  of  the  pilot  indicated 
that  danger  was  past,  and  our  'boat  was  dancing 
over  the  waves  caused  by  the  falling  of  the 
water  below.  We  had  passed  the  first  rapid. 
Were  a boat  to  be  capsized,  death  must  ensue, 
for  the  water  is  so  rapid,  and  rocks  so  abund- 
ant, that  the  most  expert  swimmer  could  do 
nothing. 

The  scenery  here  is  indescribably  grand. 
Much  of  the  boasted  scenery  of  Europe  and 
America  would  be  tame  in  comparison  with  it. 
Grandeur  and  beauty  oftentimes  struggle  for 
the  mastery,  first  one  and  then  the  other  pre- 
vailing, and  sometimes  both  combined.  The 
river  winds  its  way  along  between  the  moun- 
tains which  rise  perpendicularly  from  one  bank, 
and  in  an  amphitheatrical  order  from  the  other. 
Sometimes  the  ascent  is  gradual  on  both  sides. 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


207 


In  one  or  two  places  no  outlet  can  be  seen  for 
the  river  at  all,  and  one  would  think  that  soon 
all  would  be  dashed  against  the  opposing  moun- 
tains; but  a slight  turn  would  open  up  a 
channel,  with  perpendicular  banks  on  each  side, 
to  the  height  of  at  least  six-hundred  feet,  whilst 
between  those  perpendicular  masses  of  solid 
rock  would  be  one  of  those  indescribable  rapids 
to  be  passed.  The  fish-eagle  would  be  scream- 
ing hundreds  of  feet  above  our  heads,  and  the 
little  mountain-goat,  sticking  on  a cliff,  appa- 
rently midway  between  heaven  and  earth, 
would  look  down  upon  us  with  apparent 
contempt.  We  could  seldom  see  a quarter  of  a 
mile  either  way,  and  the  sun  shone  upon  us  but 
a few  hours  at  midday.  Huge  stylactites,  the 
formation  of  ages,  were  pending  from  the  crevi- 
ces. At  one  of  the  rapids  the  river  passes 
under  a projecting  rock  for  some  distance,  and 
a little  cascade,  which  in  the  rainy  season  must 
be  quite  a stream,  falls  into  the  river  some  dis- 
tance beyond  the  boat.  When  night  came  on, 
we  stopped  in  the  solitude,  tied  our  boats  to  the 


208 


SIAM. 


shore,  cooked  our  rice  and  then  retired,  we 
sleeping  on  the  boat,  but  our  men  on  the 
sand. 

The  scientific  geologist  might  find  an  ample 
field  here,  and  the  sportsman  would  also  have 
plenty  of  sport  amongst  tigers,  deer,  wild-hogs, 
pea-fowls,  and  jungle-chickens.  For  a passing 
effect  however,  a simple  ride  down  the  rapids  is 
best.  Five  days  brought  us  through  the 
rapids  to  Raheng,  where  we  had  left  our  other 
boats,  making  about  ten  days  from  Chieng  Mai. 
We  were  not  long  in  getting  our  boats  ready, 
and  the  rapid  current  brought  us  to  Bangkok 
in  about  one  fourth  of  the  time  it  took  to  ascend 
against  it.  We  arrived  at  home  without  a 
moment  of  sickness,  or  any  mishap,  except  the 
loss  of  one  poor  fellow,  a slave  of  the  chief  man, 
who  died  of  jungle-fever. 

It  may  be  asked  why  Budhism,  and  especi- 
ally the  Budhism  of  Siam,  yields  so  slowly  to 
the  power  of  the  Gospel?  The  cardinal  doctrine 
of  the  system  is,  no  God,  no  intelligent  creator 
and  proprietor  of  the  universe.  The  unrenewed 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


209 


heart  loves  such  a doctrine  better  than  all 
religious  creeds  and  dogmas,  yea,  better  than 
the  simple  gospel  of  Jesus.  As  soon  as  sin 
entered  the  world,  our  first  parents  were  afraid 
of  God,  and  could  they  have  done  so,  would 
have  dispensed  with  him  all  their  days.  Thus 
it  is  that  in  Christian  countries  men  batch  up 
development  theories,  and  every  imaginable 
falsehood,  to  dispense  with  an  intelligent  first- 
cause.  Men  of  natural  good  sense  on  other 
subjects,  on  account  of  this  enmity  against  God, 
become  fools  upon  the  great  subject,  "The  fool 
hath  said  in  his  heart  no  God.”  Alabaster,  in 
his  "Modern  Budhist,”  closes  up  with  the  fol- 
lowing remarkable  flourish: — "The  religion  of 
Budha  meddled  not  with  the  beginning,  which 
it  could  not  fathom;  avoided  the  action  of  a 
deity  it  could  not  perceive;  and  left  open  to 
endless  discussion  that  problem  which  it  could 
not  solve,  the  ultimate  reward  of  the  perfect. 
It  dealt  with  life  as  it  found  it;  it  declared  all 
good  which  led  to  its  sole  object,  the  diminu- 
tion of  the  misery  of  sentient  beings ; it  laid 
14 


210 


SIAM. 


down  rules  of  conduct  which  have  never  been 
surpassed  j and  held  out  reasonable  hopes  of  a 
future  of  the  most  perfect  happiness. 

“Its  proofs  rest  on  the  assumption  that  the 
reason  of  man  is  his  surest  guide,  and  that  the 
law  of  nature  is  perfect  justice.  To  the  disproof 
of  those  assumptions  we  recommend  the  atten- 
tion of  those  missionaries  who  would  convert 
Budhists.” 

Mr.  Alabaster  must  think  missionaries  very- 
obtuse,  not  to  be  able  in  thirty  years  labor 
in  Siam,  to  find  out  the  strongholds  of  Budhism. 
Those  “assumptions”  have  been  "disproved”  a 
thousand  times,  but  as  they  harmonize  with  the 
natural  heart  of  the  Budhist,  and  indeedywith 
that  of  very  many  who  are  nominal  Christians, 
but  who  are  in  greater  condemnation  than  the 
Budhist,  all  reasonable  proof  is  rejected. 

Again,  in  all  Budhist  countries  there  is  a 
mutual  union  of  church  and  state,  and  the  Bud- 
hist regards  kings  as  the  proper  rulers  of  the 
land,  and  also  the  regulator  of  the  religion.  A 
man  in  Siam  who  embraces  Christianity,  expects 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS. 


211 


to  cut  himself  off  from  everything  which  has 
hitherto  been  near  and  dear  to  him.  They  have 
the  most  profound  reverence  for  the  King,  and 
cannot  understand  how  the  United  States  can 
get  along  without  one.  A nobleman  not  long 
since  asked  a missionary  in  good  faith,  if  the 
United  States  would  not  soon  be  far  enough 
advanced  to  have  a King,  like  England  and 
France.  The  missionary  replied,  that  from 
present  indications  England  and  France  would 
soon  be  far  enough  advanced  to  do  without  one. 

The  Siamese  are  also  wonderfully  addicted  to 

t 

custom.  Whatever  their  fathers  have  done 
they  must  do,  Tiow  ridiculous  soever  that  may 
be.  “Pen  tumneum  thai ,” — it  is  Siamese 
custom,  is  sufficient  reason  for  doing  anything. 
It  is  seldom  that  a Siamese  can  be  drawn  into 
an  argument,  even  on  religion.  They  will  gen- 
erally assent  to  everything  the  missionary  says, 
and  will  reply,  “Your  religion  is  no  doubt  much 
better  than  ours,  but  it  would  be  contrary  to 
custom  to  abandon  our  religion  in  this  life;  in 
the  next  life  we  will  embrace  Christianity.” 


212 


SIAM. 


Apostasy  from  Budhism  too,  is  one  of  their 
unpardonable  sins. 

One  of  the  greatest  obstacles  to  the  spread  of 
the  Gospel  amongst  the  heathen  is,  the  ungodly 
example  of  those  who  have  been  brought  up  in 
Christian  countries,  and  who  unfortunately  bear 
the  Christian  name.  Every  port  open  to  com- 
merce is  overrun  with  adventurers  from  western 
countries.  So  few  of  them  have  any  religion  at 
all,  that  the  heathen  are  unable  to  make  any 
distinction.  Many  too,  who  have  professed 
religion,  when  they  come  to  the  East  manifest 
no  vital  godliness,  and  soon  abandon  themselves 
to  every  imaginable  vice.  Most  of  the  official 
representatives  sent  out  by  western  govern- 
ments are  either  avowed  infidels,  or  men  of  no 
moral  character.  All  these  things  are  against 
us.  The  Siamese  have  frequently  said  to  me, 
"Why  do  you  offer  us  your  religion,  whilst 
those  in  our  midst,  who  have  been  brought  up 
in  that  religion,  are  no  better  than  we,  and  are 
even  more  abandoned  ? True,  you  missionaries 
do  not  engage  in  those  vices  to  which  the  others 


MISSIONARY  OPERATIONS.  213 

are  addicted,  but  religion  is  your  business.  You 
are  paid  for  it.”  It  will  also  be  found  that  all 
such  characters  are  opposed  to  Christian  mis- 
sions, and  missionaries  in  general,  and  are  ever 
ready  to  bear  testimony  against  them. 

I have  often  thought  that  a few  such  busi- 
ness men  as  George  H.  Stuart,  who  carry  relig- 
ion into  business  and  every-day  life,  would  do 
more  in  the  East  in  converting  the  heathen, 
than  a host  of  missionaries.  It  is  not  however, 
"By  might  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit, 
saith  the  Lord.” 

In  view  therefore,  of  all  these  obstacles  and 
difficulties,  we  appeal  to  all  true  Christians  for 
their  sympathies  and  prayers  for  the  success  of 
this  great  work  which  God  has  committed  to 
his  Church. 


THE  END. 


